The adsorption and reaction of vinyl acetate on Au/Pd(100) alloy surfaces

► The chemistry of vinyl acetate monomer is studied on the most active Au/Pd(100) alloy surface. ► VAM adsorbs on isolated palladium sites in a planar geometry and desorbs with an energy of ~55 kJ/mol. ► VAM adsorbs on Pd-Pd sites in a distorted geometry and decomposes to form acetate and vinyl species. ► The selectivity to VAM formation decreases with decreasing gold coverage. ► The implications for VAM synthesis on Au/Pd(100) alloys is discussed.