High Conversion Propane Dehydrogenation by Photocatalysis under Ambient Conditions

Propane dehydrogenation is actively pursued as a promising method for propylene production to fill a growing supply-demand gap. As limited by the thermodynamics of this transformation, existing approaches face challenges of relatively low conversion and the need for high temperature and low pressure. In this work, we report a photocatalytic approach that enables conversion beyond what can be achieved by conventional thermocatalysis. With sodium decatungstate and cobaloxime pyridine chloride as cooperative photocatalysts, we achieved a new benchmark in propane dehydrogenation of 68.9% conversion and near unity selectivity toward propylene production at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, with hydrogen as the only byproduct. These results prove the concept of dehydrogenating propane for propylene production using light as the key energy input.