CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ACTIVE-SITE FOR THE SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF METHANOL TO FORMALDEHYDE ON POLYCRYSTALLINE SILVER CATALYST

Using in situ FTIR spectroscopy to compare the interaction of methyl f ormate and formic acid with a polycrystalline silver catalyst shows th at methyl formate is dissociatively chemisorbed on conventional silver faces such as (111) and (110) which contained nucleophilic adsorbed o xygen species while in contrast, formic acid is adsorbed not only on ( 111) and (110) silver planes but also on silver sites modified by the presence of subsurface oxygen; this behaviour supports a previously pr oposed model of the active site for the selective oxidation of methano l to formaldehyde on silver catalyst.