Structure/Function Relationships and Thermodynamic Descriptors for Catalytic Activity of Alcohols with MO3 (M=W,Mo) Based Materials

Combined theory/experimental studies of MO3 (M=W, Mo) catalysts on a variety of support materials find that dioxo species are the prefered reactive sites for alcohol dehydration and, owing to its stronger lewis acidity, W is more active for dehydration whereas, ease of reducibility makes Mo  more active for dehydrogenation.