MFM-300(V) as an active heterogeneous catalyst for deep desulfurization of fuel oil by aerobic oxidation

Oxidative desulfurization (ODS) is considered as one of the most promising processes for producing clean fuel oil. Generally, such a process was realized by adding extra oxidants. However, it maintains a great challenge to carry out ODS under ambient air atmosphere. In this work, we report that a metal-organic framework MFM-300(V) exhibited efficient ODS performance under ambient air atmosphere. The removal rate of sulfur content in model oil reached 99.6% for dibenzothiophene and 98.1% for 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene, respectively. Additionally, it was found that MFM-300(V) was active in the presence of not only hydrogen-donating solvents like decalin but also hydrogen-withdrawing solvents like n-dodecane. Such ODS performance might be attributed to the unique pore structure and active V sites in MFM-300(V) to produce OH radicals in situ that could initiate the chain auto-oxidation reaction.