Elucidation of structure and location of V(IV) ions in heteropolyacid catalysts H4PVMo11O40 as studied by hyperfine sublevel correlation spectroscopy and pulsed electron nuclear double resonance at W- and X-band frequencies

Tale of Three Molecular Nitrides: Mononuclear Vanadium (V) and (IV) Nitrides As Well As a Mixed-Valence Trivanadium Nitride Having a V3N4 Double-Diamond Core

Transmetallation of [VCl₃(THF)₃] and [TlTp^tBu,Me] afforded [(Tp^tBu,Me)VCl₂] (1, Tp^tBu,Me = hydro-tris(3-tert-butyl-5-methylpyrazol-1-yl)borate), which was reduced with KC₈ to form a C_3v symmetric V^II complex, [(Tp^tBu,Me)VCl] (2). Complex 1 has a high-spin (S = 1) ground state and displays rhombic high-frequency and -field electron paramagnetic resonance (HFEPR) spectra, while complex 2 has an S = 3/2 ⁴A₂ ground state observable by conventional EPR spectroscopy. Complex 1 reacts with NaN₃ to form the V^V nitride-azide complex [(Tp^tBu,Me)V≡N(N₃)] (3). A likely V^III azide intermediate en route to 3, [(Tp^tBu,Me)VCl(N₃)] (4), was isolated by reacting 1 with N₃SiMe₃. Complex 4 is thermally stable but reacts with NaN₃ to form 3, implying a bis-azide intermediate, [(Tp^tBu,Me)V(N₃)₂] (A), leading to 3. Reduction of 3 with KC₈ furnishes a trinuclear and mixed-valent nitride, [{(Tp^tBu,Me)V}₂(μ₄-VN₄)] (5), conforming to a Robin-Day class I description. Complex 5 features a central vanadium ion supported only by bridging nitride ligands. Contrary to 1, complex 2 reacts with NaN₃ to produce an azide-bridged dimer, [{(Tp^tBu,Me)V}₂(1,3-μ₂-N₃)₂] (6), with two antiferromagnetically coupled high-spin V^II ions. Complex 5 could be independently produced along with [(κ₂-Tp^tBu,Me)₂V] upon photolysis of 6 in arene solvents. The putative {V^IV≡N} intermediate, [(Tp^tBu,Me)V≡N] (B), was intercepted by photolyzing 6 in a coordinating solvent, such as tetrahydrofuran (THF), yielding [(Tp^tBu,Me)V≡N(THF)] (B-THF). In arene solvents, B-THF expels THF to afford 5 and [(κ₂-Tp^tBu,Me)₂V]. A more stable adduct (B-OPPh₃) was prepared by reacting B-THF with OPPh₃. These adducts of B are the first neutral and mononuclear V^IV nitride complexes to be isolated.

On the Role and Applications of Electron Magnetic Resonance Techniques in Surface Chemistry and Heterogeneous Catalysis

Abstract

Some relevant aspects of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) applied to the fields of surface chemistry and heterogeneous catalysis are illustrated in this perspective paper that aims to show the potential of these techniques in describing critical features of surface structures and reactivity. Selected examples are employed covering distinct aspects of catalytic science from morphological analysis of surfaces to detailed descriptions of chemical bonding and catalytic sites topology. In conclusions the pros and cons related to the acquisition of EPR instrumentations in an advanced laboratory of surface chemistry and heterogeneous catalysis are briefly considered.

Graphic Abstract

Chemical composition of an aqueous oxalato-/citrato-VO(2+) solution as determinant for vanadium oxide phase formation

Aqueous solutions of oxalato- and citrato-VO(2+) complexes are prepared, and their ligand exchange reaction is investigated as a function of the amount of citrate present in the aqueous solution via continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance (CW EPR) and hyperfine sublevel correlation (HYSCORE) spectroscopy. With a low amount of citrate, monomeric cis-oxalato-VO(2+) complexes occur with a distorted square-pyramidal geometry. As the amount of citrate increases, oxalate is gradually exchanged for citrate. This leads to (i) an intermediate situation of monomeric VO(2+) complexes with a mix of oxalate/citrate ligands and (ii) a final situation of both monomeric and dimeric complexes with exclusively citrato ligands. The monomeric citrato-VO(2+) complexes dominate (abundance > 80%) and are characterized by a 6-fold chelation of the vanadium(IV) ion by 4 RCO2(-) ligands at the equatorial positions and a H2O/R-OH ligand at the axial position. The different redox stabilities of these complexes, relative to that of dissolved O2 in the aqueous solution, is analyzed via (51)V NMR. It is shown that the oxidation rate is the highest for the oxalato-VO(2+) complexes. In addition, the stability of the VO(2+) complexes can be drastically improved by evacuation of the dissolved O2 from the solution and subsequent storage in a N2 ambient atmosphere. The vanadium oxide phase formation process, starting with the chemical solution deposition of the aqueous solutions and continuing with subsequent processing in an ambient 0.1% O2 atmosphere, differs for the two complexes. The oxalato-VO(2+) complexes turn into the oxygen-deficient crystalline VO2 B at 400 °C, which then turns into crystalline V6O13 at 500 °C. In contrast, the citrato-VO(2+) complexes form an amorphous film at 400 °C that crystallizes into VO2 M1 and V6O13 at 500 °C.

Computational insight into the initial steps of the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism: electron transfer and surface defects in the reduction of polyoxometalates

Metal oxides as a rule oxidize and oxygenate substrates via the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism. A well-defined α-Keggin polyoxometalate, H(5)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40), can be viewed as an analogue of discrete structure that reacts via the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism both in solution and in the gas phase. Guided by previous experimental observations, we have studied the key intermediates on the reaction pathways of its reduction by various compounds using high-level DFT calculations. These redox reactions of polyoxometalates require protons, and thus such complexes were explicitly considered. First, the energetics of outer-sphere proton and electron transfer as well as coupled proton and electron transfer were calculated for seven substrates. This was followed by identification of possible key intermediates on the subsequent reaction pathways that feature displacement of the metal atom from the Keggin structure and coordinatively unsaturated sites on the H(5)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40) surface. Such metal defects are favored at vanadium sites. For strong reducing agents the initial outer-sphere electron transfer, alone or possibly coupled with proton transfer, facilitates formation of metal defects. Subsequent coordination allows for formation of reactive ensembles on the catalyst surface, for which the selective oxygen-transfer step becomes feasible. Weak reducing agents do not facilitate defect formation by outer-sphere electron and/or proton transfers, and thus formation of metal defect structures prior to the substrate activation is suggested as an initial step. Calculated geometries and energies of metal defect structures support experimentally observed intermediates and demonstrate the complex nature of the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism.

High-field pulsed EPR spectroscopy for the speciation of the reduced [PV(2)Mo(10)O(40)](6-) polyoxometalate catalyst used in electron-transfer oxidations

An in-depth spectroscopic EPR investigation of a key intermediate, formally notated as [PV(IV)V(V)Mo(10)O(40)](6-) and formed in known electron-transfer and electron-transfer/oxygen-transfer reactions catalyzed by H(5)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40), has been carried out. Pulsed EPR spectroscopy have been utilized: specifically, W-band electron-electron double resonance (ELDOR)-detected NMR and two-dimensional (2D) hyperfine sub-level correlation (HYSCORE) measurements, which resolved (95)Mo and (17)O hyperfine interactions, and electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR), which gave the weak (51)V and (31)P interactions. In this way, two paramagnetic species related to [PV(IV)V(V)Mo(10)O(40)](6-) were identified. The first species (30-35 %) has a vanadyl (VO(2+))-like EPR spectrum and is not situated within the polyoxometalate cluster. Here the VO(2+) was suggested to be supported on the Keggin cluster and can be represented as an ion pair, [PV(V)Mo(10)O(39)](8-)[V(IV)O(2+)]. This species originates from the parent H(5)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40) in which the vanadium atoms are nearest neighbors and it is suggested that this isomer is more likely to be reactive in electron-transfer/oxygen-transfer reaction oxidation reactions. In the second (70-65 %) species, the V(IV) remains embedded within the polyoxometalate framework and originates from reduction of distal H(5)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40) isomers to yield an intact cluster, [PV(IV)V(V)Mo(10)O(40)](6-).

IR Spectroscopic Investigation of Heteropolymolybdate Catalysts: Acidic Properties and Reactivity towards Propene

Compounds of the general type CsxH3+y−xPVyMo12−yO40 (x = 0, 2–4 with y = 1, or x = 0, 2 with y = 0) were investigated by IR spectroscopy. After thermal treatment at 473–773 K in vacuum or N2, the probe molecules CO (at 77 K, in transmission) or CO2 (at 298 K, in diffuse reflectance) were adsorbed. On the surface of Cs2H2PVMo11O40 and Cs2HPMo12O40, Brønsted acid sites were indicated by a CO band at 2162 cm−1. All Cs containing compounds produced CO bands at 2152 cm−1 or CO2 bands at 2341 cm−1. Additional weak Lewis acid sites of Mo or V in at least two oxidation states were detected after treatment at 673 K. The fraction of the reduced species decreased in the order H4PVMo11O40 > Cs2H2PVMo11O40 > Cs3HPVMo11O40. In situ DRIFT spectra of these three compounds taken during interaction with propene at up to 673 K revealed that the pattern of IR bands typical of the Keggin anion was unaffected at x = 3, altered severely for the acid and to an intermediate extent for x = 2. The changes are consistent with a diminishing of the splitting of the P–O frequency. The Keggin structure represents the initial oxidized state of the heteropoly compound catalysts. Reduction affects but does not destroy the local structure as probed by IR spectroscopy. The more easily reducible H4PVMo11O40 is active for propene oxidation at 513 K, Cs2H2PVMo11O40 only at 617 K.

A Q- and X-band pulsed electron nuclear double resonance study of the structure and location of the vanadyl ions in the Cs salt of heteropolyacid PVMo11O40

The location and coordination geometry of vanadium(IV) ions in the cesium salt of molybdovanadophosphoric heteropolyacid Cs(4)PVMo(11)O(40) were studied using orientation-selective pulsed ENDOR (electron nuclear double resonance) experiments. To enhance the orientation selectivity for the paramagnetic vanadyl species, these investigations were done at Q-band frequencies. It was possible to resolve interactions of the paramagnetic vanadyl ions (VO(2+)) with all relevant nuclei, (1)H, (31)P, (51)V, and (133)Cs. The location of the vanadyl species was studied by determination of the complete (31)P hyperfine tensor. This approach was done for both the fresh and the calcined Cs(4)PVMo(11)O(40) materials, and no differences in the structures of the VO(2+) complexes were found. The ENDOR results give experimental evidence for the location of the V(IV) ions. For both samples, it was possible to exclude the incorporation of V(IV) at the Mo sites. The VO(2+) species are directly attached to the outer surface of the heteropolyanion and coordinated to four of the outer oxygen atoms with a V-P distance of 3.96 A.