Formox is a registered trademark owned by Johnson Matthey.
[2] Industrially, formaldehyde is produced by catalytic oxidation of methanol.
The most commonly used catalysts are silver metal or a mixture of an iron oxide with molybdenum and/or vanadium.
In the recently more commonly used Formox process using iron oxide and molybdenum and/or vanadium, methanol and oxygen react at 300-400°C to produce formaldehyde according to the chemical equation: The silver-based catalyst (see also: the Fasil process) is usually operated at a higher temperature, about 650 °C.
On it, two chemical reactions simultaneously produce formaldehyde: the one shown above, and the dehydrogenation reaction: Further oxidation of the formaldehyde product during its production usually gives formic acid that is found in formaldehyde solution, found in parts per million values.