Low‐Temperature Oxidation of Methane to Methanol on a Zeolitic Octahedral Metal Oxide

Direct oxidation of methane to methanol utilizing molecular oxygen under mild conditions is an important yet challenging process due to the difficulty in activation of methane under such conditions. In this research, we report zeolitic octahedral metal oxides based on cobalt vanadotungstates, which act as the catalysts for oxidation of methane using molecular oxygen as the oxidant without co‐reductants at a low temperature of 90 oC even as low as 60 oC. This catalytic process results in the high‐yield production of methanol as the major product. Micropores of the catalyst is critical for achieving high activity in the reaction, in which molecular oxygen is activated. The active species of the reaction is found to be hydroxyl‐based species. VO5 with reduced V4+ and Co2+ are both crucial for generating the active species for the reaction.