Self-assembly of polyoxometalate conjugates: novel models for catalytic surfaces from crystal data

Abstract

Self-assembly of new organic conjugates of the pentamolybdodiphosphonato cage with cyclic aminomethylphosphonates has been achieved. The crystal structures of two of the conjugates have been determined and all of them characterised by IR spectroscopy. Intramolecular hydrogen bonding of the aminomethyl moiety to cage oxygen and close intermolecular C–H ⋯ O–Mo contacts (between 2.3 and 2.5 Å for the H ⋯ O distance) are observed, providing a new model for the interaction of substrates with a polyoxometalate catalytic surface. A scheme for modelling the pentamolybdodiphosphonato cage with a distance-restraint-based model is presented.