The infrared spectra and kinetic properties of glyoxal adsorbed on alkali halide films were investigated. Glyoxal is deposited as a multilayer and parallel to the surfaces. Desorption data collected from NaCl, NaBr, KCl, and KBr alkali halide surfaces were fit to both zero order and first order kinetic models, determining the mode of desorption. Rate constants and activation energies are reported. Assignments of the vibrational modes of glyoxal are also reported for all surfaces. Surface induced interactions were observed in the infrared spectra, specifically, the cation influence of the surfaces on the CCH bend 11.