Boron and Boron‐Containing Catalysts for the Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Propane

Boron nitride was recently identified as a highly selective catalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane. In this communication, we report that other boron‐containing materials such as boron carbide, titanium boride, nickel boride, cobalt boride, hafnium boride, and tungsten boride, as well as elemental boron itself, show the same exceptional behavior as boron nitride. X‐ray photoelectron and infrared spectroscopy suggest oxyfunctionalization of the surface. This observation disproves previous mechanistic hypotheses that edge sites on the boron nitride would be the active sites and rather suggests the formation of an analogous surface‐stabilized BO x active site for all tested boride catalysts.