Surface interaction of ethylene glycol with silver

Interaction of ethylene glycol with clean and oxidized surfaces of an Ag catalyst has been studied under pre-catalysis conditions. On a clean surface, ethylene glycol was reversibly adsorbed with the formation of a multilayer coverage. Adsorbed ethylene glycol weakly bonded to the oxidized silver surface leads to the selective formation of glyoxalvia two parallel routes: dehydrogenation and oxidation. Dissociative interaction of ethylene glycol with Ag led to the appearance of formaldehyde and carbon dioxide by-products.