Immobilization of polyoxometalate hybrid catalysts onto mesoporous silica supports using phenylene diisothiocyanate as a cross-linking agent

Abstract

Abstract The hybrid derivative of heteropolytungstate bearing two aniline groups, namely (nBu4N)3[NaHPW9O34{As(O)C6H4NH2}2], was post-functionalized in the presence of 1,4-phenylene diisothiocyanate (PDITC). The resulting molecular moiety was characterized by IR, 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy. In a second step, this post-functionalized hybrid of polyoxometalate was covalently grafted onto the surface of an amino-functionalized SBA-15 silica by means of the formation of thiourea bonds. This simple and efficient strategy of immobilization did not require the use of a coupling agent and was performed in mild reaction conditions. Various physicochemical techniques (13C and 31P CP MAS NMR spectroscopies, XPS, XRF, HR-TEM microscopy and N2 sorption) contributed to the full characterization of the supported catalyst. In addition HR-TEM was found to be an essential technique for the identification of the polyoxometalate units inside the pores of SBA-15. Finally, the catalytic performances of the supported polyoxometalates were evaluated in the epoxidation of cyclooctene with aqueous H2O2 in acetonitrile at 50 °C.