A Silica-Supported Double-Decker Silsesquioxane Provides a Second Skin for the Selective Generation of Bipodal Surface Organometallic Complexes

Abstract

A well-defined silica-based material with a homogeneous nanolayer presenting identical pairs of vicinal silanols has been prepared by reaction of the surface organometallic species [≡SiOZr(CH 2 CMe 3 ) 3 ], obtained on a silica dehydroxylated at 900 °C, with the double-decker-shaped silsesquioxane (OH) 2 DD(OH) 2 . The surface structure has been established using extensive NMR characterization ( 1 H, 13 C, 29 Si, HETCOR, double-quantum, triple-quantum). Treatment with Zr(CH 2 CMe 3 ) 4 leads to the first well-defined single-site bipodal grafted bis-neopentyl zirconium complex.