Nature of the centers on the surface of oxide catalysts and the forms of adsorbed toluene

IR spectroscopy has been used to analyze the forms of toluene adsorbed on various oxides, differing in the nature of their surface centers: TiO₂, CuO, V₂O₅/Al₂O₃, V₂O₅. The form of adsorption is found to depend on the nature of the surface centers of the oxide. When coordinationally saturated cations are involved complexes of toluene are formed, while if surface oxygen is involved benzoate structures are produced. The temperature at which the latter begin to be formed depends on the strength of the bond between oxygen and the surface. It was shown that the presence of acidic hydroxyl groups on the surface of the oxide leads to proton transfer to the aromatic compound to give carbonium ions. The nature of the interaction is then determined by the mobility of the proton on the surface and the basic strength of the adsorbed molecule. The possibility of identifying such compounds spectroscopically is discussed.Translated from Teoreticheskie i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 26, No. 6, pp. 710–715, November–December, 1990.