Oxidation and oxidative carbonylation of methane and ethane by hexaoxo-µ-peroxodisulfate(2–) ion in aqueous medium. A model for alkane oxidation through the hydrogen-atom abstraction pathway

Abstract

In aqueous medium, at 105–115 °C, SO₄-˙(generated from S₂O₈ ^2–) was found to abstract a hydrogen atom from methane and ethane to form the corresponding alkyl radicals which could be trapped efficiently by carbon monoxide, the resultant acyl radicals being ultimately converted into the homologous carboxylic acids.