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 [Mo2(MeCN)10][BF4]4, [Mo2(μ-O2CMe)2(MeCN)6][BF4]2 and [Mo2(μ-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, N2 adsorption, FTIR and MAS NMR (13C, 29Si, 31P) spectroscopy.