Grafting of Lanthanide Complexes on Silica Surfaces: A Theoretical Investigation

On the use of 17O NMR for understanding molecular and silica-grafted tungsten oxo siloxide complexes

¹⁷O-labelled tungsten siloxide complexes [WOCl₂(OSitBu₃)₂] (1-Cl) and [WOMe₂(OSitBu₃)₂] (1-Me) were prepared and characterized by ¹⁷O MAS NMR, with input from theoretical calculations of NMR parameters. Guidelines linking ¹⁷O NMR parameters and the coordination sphere of molecular and silica-grafted tungsten oxo species are proposed. The grafting of 1-Me on SiO_2-700 afforded material 2, with surface species [(SiO)WOMe₂(OSitBu₃)] as shown by elemental analysis, IR and ¹H and ¹³C MAS NMR. The DFT calculations of the grafting mechanism are in line with the observed reactivity. They indicate the occurrence of several isomeric species of close energy for the grafted W centers, precluding efficient ¹⁷O MAS NMR studies. The lack of catalytic activity in olefin metathesis and ring-opening olefin metathesis polymerization indicates that initiation by α-H elimination is not operative in 2, contrary to related tungsten surface species, which illustrates the crucial influence of the nature of the metal coordination sphere.

Effects of surface acidity on the structure of organometallics supported on oxide surfaces

Well-defined organometallics supported on high surface area oxides are promising heterogeneous catalysts. An important design factor in these materials is how the metal interacts with the functionalities on an oxide support, commonly anionic X-type ligands derived from the reaction of an organometallic M-R with an -OH site on the oxide. The metal can either form a covalent M-O bond or form an electrostatic M⁺⋯^-O ion-pair, which impacts how well-defined organometallics will interact with substrates in catalytic reactions. A less common reaction pathway involves the reaction of a Lewis site on the oxide with the organometallic, resulting in abstraction to form an ion-pair, which is relevant to industrial olefin polymerization catalysts. This Feature Article views the spectrum of reactivity between an organometallic and an oxide through the prism of Brønsted and/or Lewis acidity of surface sites and draws analogies to the molecular frame where Lewis and Brønsted acids are known to form reactive ion-pairs. Applications of the well-defined sites developed in this article are also discussed.

Observing the three-dimensional dynamics of supported metal complexes

The dynamics of heterogeneous catalysts are linked to their activity and selectivity but are poorly understood. NMR enables for the determination of high-resolution dynamic structures for such sites and the mapping of accessible conformations.

Origin of the 29Si NMR chemical shift in R3Si–X and relationship to the formation of silylium (R3Si+) ions

The origin in deshielding of ²⁹Si NMR chemical shifts in R₃Si–X, where X = H, OMe, Cl, OTf, [CH₆B₁₁X₆], toluene, and O_X (O_X = surface oxygen), as well as ⁱPr₃Si⁺ and Mes₃Si⁺ were studied using DFT methods.

Al(ORF)3 (RF = C(CF3)3) activated silica: a well-defined weakly coordinating surface anion

Weakly Coordinating Anions (WCAs) containing electron deficient delocalized anionic fragments that are reasonably inert allow for the isolation of strong electrophiles. Perfluorinated borates, perfluorinated aluminum alkoxides, and halogenated carborane anions are a few families of WCAs that are commonly used in synthesis. Application of similar design strategies to oxide surfaces is challenging. This paper describes the reaction of Al(OR^F)₃*PhF (R^F = C(CF₃)₃) with silica partially dehydroxylated at 700 °C (SiO_2-700) to form the bridging silanol [triple bond, length as m-dash]Si-OH⋯Al(OR^F)₃ (1). DFT calculations using small clusters to model 1 show that the gas phase acidity (GPA) of the bridging silanol is 43.2 kcal mol^-1 lower than the GPA of H₂SO₄, but higher than the strongest carborane acids, suggesting that deprotonated 1 would be a WCA. Reactions of 1 with NOct₃ show that 1 forms weaker ion-pairs than classical WCAs, but stronger ion-pairs than carborane or borate anions. Though 1 forms stronger ion-pairs than these state-of-the-art WCAs, 1 reacts with alkylsilanes to form silylium type surface species. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of a silylium supported on derivatized silica.

Grafting of a new bis-silylamido aluminum species on silica: insight from solid-state NMR into interactions with the surface

The new bisamido aluminum species [AlCl{N(SiMe3)2}2(THF)] (1) was prepared and fully characterized by 27Al and 35Cl solid-state NMR, along with X-ray diffraction studies. 1 was grafted on silica partially dehydroxylated at 700 °C, affording silica-supported Al species. The resulting material (2) was characterized by IR, elemental analysis and 1H, 13C and 27Al solid-state MAS NMR. The 1D and 2D 27Al MAS NMR studies showed the occurrence of two types of species, where the Al center adopts a tetracoordinated coordination sphere, with as an additional coordinated Lewis base, either a THF ligand or a silica-surface siloxane moiety. DFT calculations allowed understanding the grafting mechanism and the spectroscopic properties of the material.

Natural rubber-SiO2 nanohybrids: interface structures and dynamics

Homogeneous dispersion of silica nanoparticles (SiO₂ NPs) in natural rubber (NR) is a key challenge for engineering high-performance nanocomposites and elucidation of their structure on a molecular basis. Towards this, the present work devised a novel route for obtaining 3D self-assembled SiO₂ NP-NR nanocomposites under aqueous conditions and in the presence of Mg²⁺, by establishing a molecular bridge that clamped the negatively charged NR and SiO₂ colloidal particles with a favoured NR-SiO₂ NP hetero-aggregation. The characteristic NR-SiO₂ NP hetero-aggregates displayed a decreased heat capacity with increase in the SiO₂ mass-fraction, implying a restricted NR chain mobility. Such changes in the interfacial layers were tapped by ²⁹Si NMR, DFT calculations and molecular dynamics simulations towards a mechanistic understanding of the structure and dynamics of the NR/SiO₂ NP hybrid. Simple models were used to illustrate basic ideas; specific electrostatic interactions such as ion-dipole and H-bonding interactions proved to be the driving forces for the organized assembly leading to the NR-SiO₂ hetero-aggregate over the NR-NR or SiO₂ NP-SiO₂ NP homo-aggregate. Molecular dynamics simulation of the aqueous canonical ensemble of the hybrid showed the stable molecular conformation to reveal a SiO₂ NP spherical core encapsulated by a hydrophobically interconnected NR polymer layer as the outer shell, as a unique structural model. Specifically, the lipid end of the NR was involved electrostatically while the lysine end (the protein part of NR) H-bonded to the core silica cluster thereby restricting random aggregation. The calculated negative free energy changes for the hetero-aggregate composites via their vibrational and rotational spectra proved the spontaneity of composite formation.

Preparation of monopodal and bipodal aluminum surface species by selective protonolysis of highly reactive [AlH3(NMe2Et)] on silica

The reaction of [AlH₃(NMe₂Et)] with silica treated at 200 °C leads to a well-defined bipodal aluminum hydride while with silica treated at 700 °C a mixture of mono- and bi-podal aluminum hydrides is obtained.

Grafting of lanthanide complexes on silica surfaces dehydroxylated at 200 °C: a theoretical investigation

The grafting reaction of lanthanide silylamide complexes has been studied, in the framework of the DFT, highlighting the different grafting modes on a silica surface dehydroxylated at 200 °C.