Alkanes: Properties, Production and Applications (Chemistry Research and Applications)

Over the last few years, there has been a growing interest in the development of sustainable processes for the large-scale production of commodities. This book offers a comprehensive review of physicochemical properties of industrially important alkanes, their upgrades, and use in the synthesis of valuable functionalised organic compounds, with a focus on simple, mild, and green catalytic processes. Moreover, emerging technologies of alkane decontamination are also addressed. Thus, a state-of-art examination of the physicochemical properties of selected liquid n-alkanes, aiming at enhancing the knowledge and understanding of such an important class of compounds, is presented. One application of long chain n-alkanes is to take a part of the composition of several fuels and lubricants. In order to produce them with beneficial cold-flow properties, the linear alkanes, commonly designated as waxes, must undergo an upgrading process. The authors present the several catalytic systems used to transform linear to branched long chain alkanes, from the more traditional processes to the current research trends. On the other hand, the use of alkanes as raw materials in organic synthesis has been heavily investigated in recent years; given how abundant and cheap they are as a carbon source. As such, the authors focus on the use of C-scorpionate transition-metal complexes as homo- or heterogeneous catalysts for the challenging selective oxidation of alkenes, under mild and unconventional conditions, to functionalized value-added organic compounds. Regarding alkanes functionalization, the introduction of a halogen atom at a specific site in an alkyl chain provides an avenue for the creation of novel synthetic routes. Accordingly, the state-of-art selective halogenation of unactivated C-H bonds is presented and discussed. Lastly, the serious pollution problem of prevalent alkanes in water bodies is addressed by presenting the most cost effective and environmentally relevant emerging technologies to recover the natural balance of ecosystems. About the Author Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal