Synthesis of a phosphomolybdate with a tetranuclear vanadium core by installing vanadium atoms in a lacunary template using the protecting group strategy

Abstract

Vanadium-containing phosphomolybdates have outstanding catalytic and electrochemical properties. However, their traditional one-pot synthesis in aqueous media generates a mixture of randomly distributed isomers and undesirable impurities, which has hampered the in-depth study of the catalysis and reaction mechanism of these compounds. Here, the selective synthesis of a tetranuclear vanadium-containing phosphomolybdate, [PV₃Mo₉O₄₀(VO)]³⁻, was achieved for the first time by using a pyridine-protected [A-α-PMo₉O₃₁(py)₃]³⁻ (py = pyridine) as the template.