A Chemical Alternative to Natural Gas Flaring

A novel chemical liquefaction conversion process for one-step synthesis of natural gas to a methanol/acetic acid mixture is described. Previously reported homogeneous catalytic systems for carrying out methane coupling to CO2 are shown to work equally effectively with just methane. C-13 labeling studies show that both carbons in the acetic acid originate from the methane. The reaction is therefore one of auto-oxidative coupling. The true yield is lower than previously claimed because the solubility of methane in the solvent needs to be taken into account.