Molecular insight into the role of zeolite lattice constraints on methane activation over the Cu–O–Cu active site

The zeolite ring structure constrains the Cu–μO–Cu geometry and determines how the Cu–μO–Cu bonds weaken to allow a μO–H bond to form during the H–CH 3 bond cleavage. The weaker the Cu–μO–Cu bonds, the stronger the μO–H bond.