The development of environment-friendly, stable, and efficient catalysts to substitute Pt and Cr-based catalysts for propane dehydrogenation (PDH) is of great importance but challenging to make. Herein, we use zinc gluconate (Zn(C₆H₁₂O₇)₂), an organometallic biomolecule, to embed Zn atoms into pure silica MFI zeolite framework (Zn-MFI) for PDH reaction. Due to the protection by the glucosyl groups in Zn(C₆H₁₂O₇)₂, Zn atoms can be well embedded into the MFI zeolite framework. Multi-scale characterizations (e.g., C_s-corrected HAADF-STEM, FTIR, UV–vis, and NMR spectroscopy) and DFT calculations demonstrate the formation of uniform tetrahedrally coordinated Zn sites in the MFI zeolite framework with two Zn–O–Si and two Zn⋯OH–Si linkages ({(≡SiO)₂Zn(HO–Si≡)₂}). The Zn-MFI zeolites are used for PDH, exhibiting excellent catalytic performance. Pyridine-FTIR, C₃H₆-FTIR, C₃H₆-TPD/MS, and contrast experiments reveal the unique Zn active sites in Zn-MFI zeolites can promote the C–H bond cleavage and weaken the propylene adsorption, thus guaranteeing high activity and selectivity for PDH. The excellent catalytic performance of Zn-MFI zeolites indicates their promising utilization in industry.

开发环境友好、稳定、高效的催化剂来替代 Pt 和 Cr 基丙烷脱氢 (PDH) 催化剂具有重要意义，但制造难度很大。在此，我们使用葡萄糖酸锌 (Zn(C ₆ H ₁₂ O ₇ ) ₂ )，一种有机金属生物分子，将 Zn 原子嵌入纯二氧化硅 MFI 沸石骨架 (Zn-MFI) 中进行 PDH 反应。由于Zn(C ₆ H ₁₂ O ₇ ) ₂中的糖基保护，Zn原子可以很好地嵌入到MFI沸石骨架中。多尺度表征（例如，C _s-校正的 HAADF-STEM、FTIR、UV-vis 和 NMR 光谱）和 DFT 计算表明在具有两个 Zn-O-Si 和两个 Zn⋯OH-Si 键的 MFI 沸石骨架中形成了均匀的四面体配位 Zn 位点（{ (≡SiO) ₂ Zn(HO–Si≡) ₂ })。Zn-MFI沸石用于PDH，表现出优异的催化性能。吡啶-FTIR、C ₃ H ₆ -FTIR、C ₃ H ₆ -TPD/MS和对比实验表明，Zn-MFI沸石中独特的Zn活性位点可以促进C-H键断裂，削弱丙烯吸附，从而保证对 PDH 具有高活性和选择性。Zn-MFI 沸石优异的催化性能表明其在工业上的应用前景广阔。