Dehydrogenation of Alkanes Using Molecular Catalysts

Olefins are widely used as synthetic intermediates for the preparation of a variety of commodity chemicals ranging from small molecules to large polymers. Catalytic alkane dehydrogenation is a transformation with great potential value, because it converts the most abundant and inexpensive alkanes into value-added alkene products. During the past four decades, numerous molecular catalysts have been developed for alkane dehydrogenation with or without a hydrogen acceptor, and some of them exhibit high activity and selectivity for the dehydrogenation of linear alkanes to form α-olefins. In this chapter, we give an overview of thermochemical and photochemical dehydrogenation of alkane catalyzed by molecular catalysts.