Fig. 5: Direct carbonylation of natural gas alkanes without using transition metals and syngas.

a Transformation from n-butane to 2-methylbutyraldehyde. b Transformation from propane to isobutyraldehyde. c Transformation from ethane to propionic aldehyde. d Reaction mechanism of transformation from DAC1-propane to isobutyraldehyde. Yields were determined by 1H-NMR spectra using 1, 3, 5-trimethoxybenzene as internal standard. ORF = OC(CF3)3.