Carbon Efficiency and the Surface Chemistry of the Actinides: Direct Formation of Furan from Acetylene over β-UO3

This work presents the direct oxidative coupling of two molecules of acetylene to furan (C4H4O) over the surface of pure polycrystalline β-UO3. For comparison, only traces of furan are formed over α-U3O8 and none on UO2 surfaces. A comparison to the reactions of other C2 compounds (ethanol (H. Madhavaram and H. Idriss, J. Catal.184, 553 (1999)), acetaldehyde (H. Madhavaram and H. Idriss, Catal. Today63, 309 (2000)), and ethylene (H. Madhavaram and H. Idriss, J. Catal.184, 553 (1999); H. Madhavaram and H. Idriss, Stud. Surf. Sci. Catal.110, 265 (1997)) over β-UO3 indicates the presence of two routes for making furan from C2 compounds: one via aldolization and the other via oxidative coupling.