Well-Defined Molybdenum Oxo Alkyl Complex Supported on Silica by Surface Organometallic Chemistry: A Highly Active Olefin Metathesis Precatalyst

The well-defined silica-supported molybdenum oxo alkyl species (SiO−)­MoO­(CH2 t Bu)3 was selectively prepared by grafting of MoO­(CH2 t Bu)3Cl onto partially dehydroxylated silica (silica700) using the surface organometallic chemistry approach. This surface species was fully characterized by elemental analysis and DRIFT, solid-state NMR, and EXAFS spectroscopy. This new material is related to the active species of industrial supported MoO3/SiO2 olefin metathesis catalysts. It displays very high activity in propene self-metathesis at mild (turnover number = 90 000 after 25 h). Remarkably, its catalytic performance outpaces those of the parent imido derivative and its tungsten oxo analogue.