What is the mechanism for the oxidation of benzene to maleic anhydride using vanadium pentoxide?
A talk given by Ken Waugh named The Detailed Kinetics of the Partial Oxidation Reactions: Benzene/Butane to Maleic Anhydride, Ethylene to Ethylene Oxide,[1] proposes the following mechanism on page 4:



[1]: Acessible as pdf via rsc.org