At 160℃, Co(Ⅱ) trifluoroacetate and Cu(Ⅱ) trifluoroacetate were found to be active catalysts for methane selective oxidation to mixture of methyl trifluoroacetate and acetone in AgNO~3-KNO~3 molten salt medium. methane could be exclusively converted into acetone over the catalyst of Ce(SO~4)~2 or CeO~2. The results show that both cation and anion play an important role in the process of methane conversion. methane chlorination conducted in AlCl~3-NaCl molten salt modified with small amounts of other copper- or silver- containing compounds such as CuCl~2 and Ag~2SO~4 catalysts or promoters was also investigated. It was found that methane could be converted to CH~3Cl with high selectivity in AlCl~3-NaCl molten salt.

Key words: METHANE, FUSED SALTS, NITRATE RADICAL, POTASSIUM NITRATE, CERIUM OXIDE, COBALT COMPOUNDS, CATALYTIC REACTION