Issue 17, 2024

Solvent-polarity-controlled assembly of polynuclear titanium-calixarene complexes: constructing isolated {Ti7}, {Ti13}, {Ti24} and {Tb2Ti13} clusters

Abstract

Three Ti–O clusters and a Tb–Ti–O cluster capped by p-tert-butylcalix[8]arene (H8C8A), namely, [Ti7O8(C8A)(CH3O)4(CH3OH)4] (CIAC-262), [Ti13O15(C8A)2(CH3O)6(CH3OH)3(H2O)2] (CIAC-263), [Ti24O28(OH)8(C8A)4(DMF)2(H2O)2] (CIAC-264) and [Tb2Ti13O15(OH)4(H3C8A)(C8A)2(HCOO)3(DMF)4(H2O)] (CIAC-265), were prepared by controlling the amount of methanol in the reaction system under solvothermal conditions. The amount of methanol is reduced from 4 mL to 2 mL and then to 0 mL, resulting in a {Ti7} cluster with Ti7–C8A unit, a {Ti13} cluster constructed by two perpendicular tail-to-tail Ti7–C8A units with a vertex-shared mode, and a {Ti24} cluster assembled by linking two Ti10–(C8A)2 units generated by the symmetric operation with a Ti4 entity, respectively. To replace the Ti4 linker in the {Ti24} cluster, Tb ions were incorporated in the methanol-free system. Then a {Tb2Ti13} cluster constructed by linking a Ti10–(C8A)2 unit and a Ti2–C8A entity with a Tb2Ti linker was obtained. Catalytic sulfoxidation experiments were performed to evaluate the structure–property relationships in these calixarene-based clusters. Driven by Ti atoms and active Ti sites with higher steric hindrance, compound CIAC-264 efficiently catalyzes the selective oxidation of methyl phenyl sulfide to methyl phenyl sulfoxide (96.00% for conversion and 98.28% for selectivity) using 30% H2O2 under mild conditions (298 K). Calixarene molecules in CIAC-264 protect the Ti–O cluster from decomposition during the catalytic reaction, which could be directly observed from MALDI-TOF MS spectra. This work not only opens a new insight for preparing high-nuclearity Ti–calixarene clusters with interesting assemblies but also provides new stable titanium oxide candidates for selective oxidation of organic sulfides.

Graphical abstract: Solvent-polarity-controlled assembly of polynuclear titanium-calixarene complexes: constructing isolated {Ti7}, {Ti13}, {Ti24} and {Tb2Ti13} clusters

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Dec 2023
Accepted
24 Mar 2024
First published
26 Mar 2024

CrystEngComm, 2024,26, 2287-2296

Solvent-polarity-controlled assembly of polynuclear titanium-calixarene complexes: constructing isolated {Ti7}, {Ti13}, {Ti24} and {Tb2Ti13} clusters

Y. Wang, Y. Xiong and W. Liao, CrystEngComm, 2024, 26, 2287 DOI: 10.1039/D3CE01275A

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