Oxidative coupling of methane over tin-containing rare-earth pyrochlores

Rare-earth pyrochlores of general formula Ln2Sn2O7(Ln = rare-earth) are found to be active catalysts for the oxidative coupling of methane, with enhanced conversion to useful hydrocarbons, particularly ethene, being observed at 1150 K for those rare-earths that exhibit mixed valence behaviour (Ln = Pr, Sm, Eu, Tb, Tm, and Yb).