Strong structure sensitivity in the partial oxidation of styrene on silver single crystals

摘要

In contrast to the formation of styrene oxide on Ag(111), phenylacetaldehyde and phenylketene dominate the partial oxidation of styrene on Ag(110), even though the reactions follow the same mechanism on both surfaces. The origin of this difference is that on Ag(1 10) the activation energy for transformation of the oxametallacycle to the combustion intermediate is much lower than on the (111) surface, so that ring-closure of the oxametallacycle to form styrene oxide is short circuited. Also the combustion intermediate appears more stable on Ag(110) than on Ag(111).