Synthesis and characterisation of MCM-41-supported dimolybdenum complexes

Isolated quadruply bonded dimolybdenum(II,II) complexes have been grafted onto the surface of hexagonal MCM-41 mesoporous silica by diffusion of an excess of the complex salts [Mo-2(MeCN)(10)][BF4](4), [Mo-2(mu-O2CMe)(2)(MeCN)(6)][BF4](2) and [Mo-2(mu-O2CMe)(2)(dppa)(2)(MeCN)(2)][BF4](2) into calcined and dehydrated MCM-41 in dry acetonitrile at room temperature. The physical properties of the resulting unstable materials, together with the nature of the host-guest interactions and the structure of supported molybdenum species, have been characterised by means of elemental analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, N-2 adsorption, FTIR and MAS NMR (C-13, Si-29, P-31) spectroscopy.