A Sn-Mo-O catalyst was prepared, characterized, and tested in the partial o
xidation of methanol under different experimental conditions. A kinetic mod
el which assumes that the reaction involves different active sites such as
terminal and bridged oxygen vacancy sites, terminal oxygen (Mo=O), and dual
dioxo sites (two adjacent surface dioxo units) has been selected. The expe
rimental observations and the predictions of the model show a rather good a
greement.