Unearthing a Well-Defined Highly Active Bimetallic W/Ti Precatalyst Anchored on a Single Silica Surface for Metathesis of Propane

Two compatible organometallic complexes, W­(Me)₆ (1) and TiNp₄ (2), were successively anchored on a highly dehydroxylated single silica support (SiO₂₋₇₀₀) to synthesize the well-defined bimetallic precatalyst [(Si–O−)­W­(Me)₅(Si–O−)­Ti­(Np)₃] (4). Precatalyst 4 was characterized at the molecular level using advanced surface organometallic chemistry (SOMC) characterization techniques. The strong autocorrelation observed between methyl of W and Ti in ¹H–¹H multiple-quantum NMR spectra demonstrates that W and Ti species are in close proximity to each other. The bimetallic precatalyst 4, with a turnover number (TON) of 9784, proved to be significantly more efficient than the silica-supported monometallic catalyst [(Si–O−)­W­(Me)₅] (3), with a TON of 98, for propane metathesis at 150 °C in a flow reactor. The dramatic improvement in the activity signifies the cooperativity between Ti and W and indicates that the key step of alkane metathesis (C–H bond activation followed by β-H elimination) occurs on Ti, followed by olefin metathesis, which occurs on W. We have demonstrated the influence and importance of proximity of Ti to W for achieving such a significantly high activity. This is the first report demonstrating the considerably high activity (TON = 9784) in propane metathesis at moderate temperature (150 °C) using a well-defined bimetallic system prepared via the SOMC approach.