The kinetics of benzene adsorption on monatomic crystalline silica films (silicatene) was studied, employing temperature programmed desorption (TPD). In addition, the precursor of the silica film formation, a Mo(1 1 2)-p(1 x 3)-O missing row reconstruction, and Mo(1 1 2) were considered. Benzene adsorbed molecularly on all surfaces. Judged by the desorption temperatures, the adsorption on the Mo oxygen phase is stronger than on silica. Two binding sites were evident for the oxygen induced reconstruction, but only one for silica. Thus, the adsorption kinetics on the support and the monoatomic thin silica film were quite different. In addition, the surfaces were characterized by Auger electron spectroscopy and low energy electron diffraction (LEED). (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.