Performance of chiral tetracarbonylmolybdenum pyrindanyl amine complexes in catalytic olefin epoxidation

Tetracarbonylmolybdenum(0) complexes containing chiral 7-(1-pyrindanyl) amine ligands were examined as catalyst precursors for the epoxidation of olefins with tert-butylhydroperoxide. Characterization of recovered catalysts reveals that the precatalysts are transformed in situ to stable polyoxomolybdate salts containing the β-octamolybdate anion [β-Mo8O26]4−, which is responsible for the catalytic reaction.156