The active site in oxygenation catalysis at single crystal metal surfaces

Although the role of specific oxygen states in surface-catalyzed oxydehydrogenation reactions has been well established recently through spectroscopic studies, direct evidence for the active oxygen has been missing. Vibrational spectroscopic evidence for molecular oxygen states frozen out under reaction conditions at Cu(110) and Ag(111) surfaces has been demonstrated. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) has progressed dramatically the atomic-level understanding of this inherently simple catalytic reaction.