Comment on "Activation of methane to CH<sub>3</sub> <sup>+</sup>: A selective industrial route to methanesulfonic acid".
editorial · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31073043.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.aax7083 and PMC identifier 8530155.
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Abstract
Díaz-Urrutia and Ott (Reports, 22 March 2019, p. 1326) report a selective conversion of methane to methanesulfonic acid that is proposed to occur by a cationic chain reaction in which CH<sub>3</sub> <sup>+</sup> adds to sulfur trioxide (SO<sub>3</sub>) to form CH<sub>3</sub>-S(O)<sub>2</sub>O<sup>+</sup> This mechanism is not plausible because of the solvent reactivity of CH<sub>3</sub> <sup>+</sup>, the non-nucleophilicity of the sulfur atom of SO<sub>3</sub>, and the high energy of CH<sub>3</sub>-S(O)<sub>2</sub>O<sup/>.