Well-defined silica supported bipodal molybdenum oxo alkyl complexes: a model of the active sites of industrial olefin metathesis catalysts.

A well-defined, silica-supported molybdenum oxo alkyl species, ([triple bond, length as m-dash]SiO-)Mo([double bond, length as m-dash]O)(CHBu), was prepared by the selective grafting of Mo([double bond, length as m-dash]O)(CHBu)Cl onto a silica partially dehydroxylated at 200 °C using a rigorous surface organometallic chemistry approach. The immobilized bipodal surface species, partly resembling the active species of industrial MoO/SiO olefin metathesis catalysts, exhibited excellent functional group tolerance in conjunction with its high activity in homocoupling, self and ring closing olefin metathesis.