Methods to generate uniform, site-isolated catalysts supported on high-surface area supports are of general interest due to increased facility in identifying structure-activity relationships with increased uniformity of catalytic sites and unique reactivity found to correlate with metal isolation. Work with a molecular precursor route to such materials, coined the thermolytic molecular precursor method, has allowed for the study of many such well-defined heterogeneous catalysts. Recent efforts have looked into the application of precursors modified to include dopant heteroatoms in the second coordination-sphere of the catalytic metal. In particular, modification of titanium-based precursors with germanium dopants has proven fruitful in enhancing catalytic oxidation reactions. In this work, the synthesis and reactivity of new germanium-doped thermolytic molecular precursors based on later transition-metal centers is investigated. These precursors are suitable for the generation of germanium-doped isolated sites on a silica support through a grafting and thermolysis procedure. Comparisons are made between the catalytic behavior of these germanium-doped materials to parent single-site transition metal catalysts supported on silica.

Thermolytic molecular precursor methods to germanium-doped single-sites on silica

253rd National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.