Synthesis, structure, and catalytic properties of polymer-immobilized rhodium clusters

Immobilized Rh₆ clusters (cyclohexene hydrogenation catalysts) were prepared by the polymer-analogous transformations or copolymerization of cluster-containing monomers and characterized. Intermediates formed in the course of a catalytic reaction were studied using IR spectroscopy, XPS, and atomic force microscopy. It was found that the relative intensity of a low-energy line in the Rh3d _5/2 spectrum of the initial polymer-immobilized cluster in the XPS spectrum of Rh₆ increased in the course of hydrogenation. The catalytic activity of the immobilized complex changed symbatically with both the number of Rh atoms bound to the H(CO) group and the number of Rh atoms, the charge on which was greater than that in the parent cluster. Some experimental evidence was obtained in favor of the hypothesis of cluster fragmentation in the course of hydrogenation with the formation of highly active, most likely, nanosized particles, which are true catalysts, in low concentrations. The surface of macrocomplex particles after hydrogenation became more homogeneous and hydrophilic; this fact is also indicative of an increase in the concentration of polar functional groups in surface layers. This was likely due to Rh-Rh bond cleavage in the polymer-immobilized cluster.