Cu-loaded zeolites enable the selective activation of ethane to ethylene at low temperatures and pressure.

Cu-zeolites are found to activate the C-H bond of ethane already at 150 °C in a cyclic protocol and form ethylene with a high selectivity. Both the zeolite topology and Cu content are found to impact the ethylene yield. Ethylene adsorption studies with FT-IR, demonstrate that oligomerization of ethylene occurs over protonic zeolites, while this reaction does not occur over Cu-zeolites. We postulate that this observation is the origin of the high ethylene selectivity. Based on the experimental results, we propose that the reaction proceeds via the formation of an ethoxy intermediate.