Mechanism of oxidation of allyl alcohol on a V-Mo oxide catalyst

The kinetics of oxidation of allyl alcohol by oxygen on a V-Mo oxide catalyst have been studied in situ by EPR. It has been found that during the course of the reaction V ions within the bulk volume of the catalyst undergo redox conversions, V/sup 4+/ /yields/ V/sup 5+/. At elevated temperatures (213/degree/C) the process kinetics can be described very well in terms of an oxidation-reduction scheme which takes into account reactions occurring within the catalyst bulk, and that the rate of acrolein formation is linearly related to the concentration (V/sup 4+/) in the catalyst volume. At lower temperatures this relationship is disrupted, and the rate of acrolein formation is no longer dependent on the O/sub 2/ pressure. In order to account for these effects the authors have proposed a stepwise scheme, which incorporates an oxygen activation step.