Activation and properties of Mo=O bonds in Mo/SiO2 catalysts

The existence of the charge transfer excited triplet state Mo⁵⁺-O^-] produced by UV-irradiation of Mo/SiO₂ catalysts, and its reactivity are evidenced by experiments of photoluminescence, photoinduced metathesis, and photoreduction of CO. Mo⁵⁺ ions can be produced separately by thermal activation and O^- ions by further adsorption of N₂O on those Mo⁵⁺ ions. The latter of which are adsorbed on Mo⁶⁺ ions are found to be more reactive than O^2- of Mo⁶⁺ =O^2-] bond. They are able either to add a molecule such as CO or C₂H₄, or to abstract hydrogen from H₂, CH₄ or trans-dicyanoethylene, or a CN group form tetracyanoethylene (TCNE). The Mo⁵⁺ ions are able to coordinate gas phase ligands when their coordination sphere possesses vacant sites. This is the case for tetracoordinated Mo⁵⁺ _4c ions arising from reduction of tetrahedral Mo⁶⁺ ions (Eq. (7)). These Mo⁵⁺ _4c ions are similar to those produced by UV-irradiaiion (Eq. (2)). In addition, if the adsorbed molecule has a sufficiently large electron affinity, such as TCNE or O₂, an electron transfer can occur (Eq. (9) and (17)). The Mo⁵⁺-O^-] bond obtained by thermal activation is more difficult to evidence than that obtained with UV-activation because it is not detectable by EPR. However, the EPR results obtained at low temperature show that the O^- ions adsorbed on Mo/SiO₂ catalysts as well as the Mo⁵⁺-O^-] excited triplet state obtained by UV-irradiation of 1Mo⁶⁺=O²] interact with methanol (Eq. (16)). They are consistent with the mechanism of methanol oxidation occurring at high temperature (Eq. (4)).