Mechanistic and kinetic studies on glyoxal oxidation with Bi- and Pb-promoted Pd/C catalysts

The oxidation of glyoxal with bimetallic Pd-M/C catalysts (M = Bi, Pb) has been studied as a function of time. It was found that both Bi and Pb act as promoters, with an optimum corresponding to Pd/M = 1. The rate constants for each step of the complex reaction scheme were determined, giving useful mechanistic insight into the overall process.