Characterization of phenylene-bridged hybrid mesoporous materials incorporating arenetricarbonyl complexes (–C6H4Me(CO)3–; Me = Cr, Mo) and their catalytic activities

The successful construction of arenetricarbonyl complexes (–C6H4Me(CO)3–; Me = Cr, Mo) was achieved through the direct modification of phenylene (–C6H4–) moieties of phenylene-bridged hybrid mesoporous materials (HMM-ph) by the simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of corresponding metal hexacarbonyls. The pore structure as well as high surface area of HMM-ph were retained even after CVD treatment. It was found that HMM-ph incorporating an arenetricarbonyl molybdenum complex (HMM-phMo(CO)3) exhibited higher catalytic performance for the polymerization of phenylacetylene and dehydrochlorination of 2-chloro-2-methylbutane than HMM-phCr(CO)3. Various spectroscopic investigations revealed that the strength of the chemical bond between the phenylene ligand and metal center of the arenetricarbonyl complexes affects the catalytic performance of HMM-phMe(CO)3 (Me = Cr, Mo).

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► Unique inorganic–organic hybrid mesoporous materials incorporating arenetricarbonyl complexes were successfully prepared by a simple CVD treatment of HMM-ph.
► Arenetricarbonyl complexes were stably constructed on HMM-ph by using phenylene moieties as the “framework ligand”.
► These complexes exhibited catalytic performance in polymerization and dehydrochlorination within heterogeneous systems.