Controlling Metal-Oxide Reducibility for Efficient C?H Bond Activation in Hydrocarbons

Knowing the structure of catalytically active species/phases and providing methods for their purposeful generation are two prerequisites for the design of catalysts with desired performance. Herein, we introduce a simple method for precise preparation of supported/bulk catalysts. It utilizes the ability of metal oxides to dissolve and to simultaneously precipitate during their treatment in an aqueous ammonia solution. Applying this method for a conventional VO_x?Al₂O₃ catalyst, the concentration of coordinatively unsaturated Al sites was tuned simply by changing the pH value of the solution. These sites affect the strength of V?O?Al bonds of isolated VO_x species and thus the reducibility of the latter. This method is also applicable for controlling the reducibility of bulk catalysts as demonstrated for a CeO₂?ZrO₂?Al₂O₃ system. The application potential of the developed catalysts was confirmed in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene with CO₂ and in the non-oxidative propane dehydrogenation to propene. Our approach is extendable to the preparation of any metal oxide catalysts dissolvable in an ammonia solution.