| abstract |
The process for preparing glyoxal from ethylene glycol wherein a gaseous mixture of ethylene glycol, oxygen, and inert diluent gas is reacted in the presence of a catalyst containing as essential ingredients phosphorus with copper, with silver, or with both copper and silver, to form glyoxal, is improved by incorporating in said gaseous mixture an amount of a vapor of a bromine compound sufficient to improve the yield of glyoxal but not so much as to significantly increase glycol aldehyde formation or reduce the conversion of the ethylene glycol below about 90?. |