Catechol derivatives of Group 4 and 5 compounds

Structural modifications of Group 4 and 5 metal alkoxides using catechol (C6H3(OH)2-1,3 = cat-H2) were characterized as Ti3(μ3-O)(μ-cat)3(cat)(cat-H)2 (1, shown), Zr4(μ4-O)(μ-cat)6(μ-cat-H)2(py)4 (2), Hf4(μ4-O)(μ-cat)6(μ-cat-H)2(py)4 (3), M(cat)2(cat-H)(py) (M = Nb (4); Ta (5)). TGA/DTA data indicated that compound 1 was a reasonable precursor for nanoparticles and used to generate nanoparticles of TiO2.