  The adsorption of methanol (CH3OH) at the Fe3O4(001)-c(2x2) surface was
studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning tunneling
microscopy (STM), and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). CH3OH adsorbs
exclusively at surface defects sites at room temperature to form hydroxyl
groups and methoxy (CH3O) species. Active sites are identified as step edges,
iron adatoms, antiphase domain boundaries in the c(2x2) reconstruction, and
above Fe atoms incorporated in the subsurface. In TPD, recombinative desorption
is observed around 300 K, and a disproportionation reaction to form methanol
and formaldehyde occurs at 470 K.
