Selective oxidation pathways at oxide surfaces: the transformation of alkanes on vanadyl pyrophosphate

A review with >28 refs. The main aspects of the surface reactivity and reaction mechanisms in alkane selective oxidn. on the vanadyl pyrophosphate active phase are discussed in relation to the results reported in the literature on the nature of active sites and mechanisms of reaction in alkene selective oxidn. Particular attention is focused on the following topics: influence on the oxidn. mechanism of the inhibition of acid sites, presence of competitive adsorption phenomena and role of the surface d. of oxygen active sites in relation to the selective and unselective oxidn., relationship between no. of available oxygen species in a surface limited environment and pathways of oxidn. for different alkanes, nature of the surface changes during the reaction induced by the strong adsorption of some intermediates and dependence of the pathway of transformation in the relative rates of H-abstraction and O-insertion. In conclusion, the possible mechanism of activation and selective oxidn. of alkanes on (VO)2P2O7 is discussed. [on SciFinder(R)]