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Science 1 September 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5791, pp. 1270 - 1273
DOI: 10.1126/science.1130493
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Reports

Chemically Induced Fast Solid-State Transitions of {omega}-VOPO4 in Vanadium Phosphate Catalysts

Marco Conte,1 Gerolamo Budroni,1 Jonathan K. Bartley,1 Stuart H. Taylor,1 Albert F. Carley,1 Andi Schmidt,1 Damien M. Murphy,1 Frank Girgsdies,2 Thorsten Ressler,2 Robert Schlögl,2 Graham J. Hutchings1*

Vanadium phosphates are important catalysts for the oxidation of alkanes, and commercial catalysts comprise a complex range of V4+ and V5+ phosphates. We used three complementary in situ characterization methodologies—powder x-ray diffraction and laser Raman and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies—to show that the metastable phase {omega}-VOPO4 is very sensitive to many of the reactants and products of butane oxidation. A rapid transformation from {omega}-VOPO4 to {delta}-VOPO4 occurs on exposure to butane at the reaction temperature, and hence the metastable {omega}-VOPO4 may play a role in the formation of commercial catalysts.

1 School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK.
2 Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, D-14195, Berlin, Germany.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hutch{at}cf.ac.uk

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)