Highly selective oxidation of methanol to dimethoxymethane over SO₄²‾/V₂O₅-ZrO₂

The sulfated vanadia-zirconia SO42-/V2O5-ZrO2catalyst, prepared by an impregnation method and calcined at various temperatures, was found to have a high catalytic activity for methanol oxidation to dimethoxymethane in a fixed bed reactor and a batch autoclave using O2as the oxidant due to the crystalline V2O5dispersed on the surface as redox active sites, as well as stronger acidic sites.