Kinetic study of epoxidations by urea–hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by methyltrioxorhenium(VII) on niobia

Heterogenization of an organorhenium(vii) oxide on a modified mesoporous molecular sieve

A novel route to heterogenize an organorhenium(VII) oxide, derived from the well examined methyltrioxorhenium(VII) (MTO), on the surface of an iodosilane-modified MCM-41 is applied. The successful grafting of the -CH(2)-ReO3 moiety on the surface was evidenced by 1H CP MAS NMR, IR spectroscopy, TG-MS, and elemental analysis. XRD and TEM analyses confirm the retaining of long-range ordering throughout the grafting process. The rhenium loading of the mesoporous material after heterogenization of MTO is found to be 1.25 wt%. Despite containing formally a derivative of the very sensitive benzyltrioxorhenium(VII) the material is stable at room temperature and applicable as a heterogeneous catalyst for aldehyde olefination reactions.

Organorhenium(vii) and organomolybdenum(vi) oxides: syntheses and application in olefin epoxidation

The first members of the classes of the organorhenium(VII) oxides and organomolybdenum(VI) oxides were described during the 1960s and 1970s. However, despite the fact that methyltrioxorhenium(VII)(MTO) is probably the best examined organometallic oxide known, many of its derivatives as well as the Mo congeners were not tested for any application. Nevertheless, it is known that several organomolybdenum oxides, particularly those of formula eta5-(C5R5)MoO2Cl and eta5-(C5R5)MoO2R' are powerful epoxidation catalysts if applied together with tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP). MTO catalyzes a broad variety of organic reactions, among them being olefin epoxidation--in this case with the "green" oxidant H2O2- the most thoroughly examined. The heterogenization of the molybdenum compounds as well as of MTO both on carrier materials and in ionic liquids has already been achieved and it is to be expected that a suitable modification of the organic ligands will lead to applications in chiral catalysis in the near future.