LIU Zhongmin and ZHU Wenliang, at the CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics have developed a metal-modified H-ZSM-5 zeolite which showed excellent selectivity for preparing aromatics by coupling methanol and carbon monoxide. China has abundant coal reserves and is a major global producer of methanol. The aromatization mechanism proceeds via a carbonyl intermediate, which reacts with olefin to form a cyclopentenone intermediate, followed by dehydration to an aromatic hydrocarbon.

CAS news release, September 21, 2018