Process for the oxidative coupling of hydrocarbons

A method for the oxidative coupling of methane to a hydrocarbon other than methane comprising:

• providing a hydrocarbon feedstream comprising methane and a hydrocarbon other than methane;
• providing an oxidative catalyst within a reactor, the catalyst consisting essentially of:
• (A) Mg element from 40 to 90 wt. % of the catalyst;
• (B) La element from 0.01 to 40 wt. % of the catalyst;
• (C) Sr element from 0.01 to 40 wt. % of the catalyst;
• and
• (D) oxygen, wherein oxygen comprises from 10 to 45 wt. % of the catalyst;
• feeding the hydrocarbon feedstream and an oxygen source to the reactor;
• carrying out oxidative coupling of the methane to a hydrocarbon other than methane over the oxidative catalyst according to an oxidative coupling condition to produce a coupling hydrocarbon product stream;
• and
• recovering product hydrocarbons comprising ethylbenzene and styrene.