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Research article2007Peer reviewedOpen access

Nona-coordinated MO6N3 centers M = Zr, Hf as a stable building block for the construction of heterometallic alkoxide precursors

Spijksma GI, Kloo L, Bouwmeester HJM, Blank DHA, Kessler VG

Abstract

The modification of zirconium or hafnium alkoxides with diethanolamine, H(2)dea, leads to the formation of unique nona-coordinated M{mu-eta(3)-NH(C2H4O)(2)}(3) cores. The mechanism is used to develop a self-assembly approach to the first thermodynamically stable zirconium-titanium and hafnium-titanium precursors, Zr{mu-eta(3)-NH(C2H4O)(2)}(3)[Ti((OPr)-Pr-i)(3)](2) (1) and Hf{mu-eta(3)-NH(C2H4O)(2))(3)[Ti((OPr)-Pr-i)(3)](2) (2). Mass spectrometric characterization of these compounds demonstrates their volatility. In addition to the solution stability of these compounds the volatility makes them attractive single source precursors for MOCVD and ALD applications. These precursors are also interesting candidates for application in sol-gel synthesis of microporous materials as the stability of the core prevents self-assembly of ligands on the outer surface of the primary particles formed during the hydrolysis. A n-propoxide analog of 1 can be prepared from zirconium n-propoxide but does not yield any crystalline material. It is demonstrated that 1 can be prepared from [Zr((OPr)-Pr-n)((OPr)-Pr-i)(3) ((PrOH)-Pr-i)](2), however, with a lower yield compared to the use of zirconium isopropoxide. The single crystals obtained from systems containing zirconium isopropoxide, titanium isopropoxide and triethanolamine H(3)tea turned out to be Ti-2((OPr)-Pr-i)(2)(mu-eta(4)-NH(C2H4O)(3)}(2))(2) (4). Theoretical calculations indicate that the octacoordinate M{mu-eta(4)-N(C2H4O)(3)}(2) core, anticipated in reaction with H(3)tea, will have metal-nitrogen bonds that are too long for its stabilization. This explains why the formation of 4 is thermodynamically favored over the formation of heterometallic species. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Keywords

Precursor design; Hetrometallic alkoxides; Solution stability; Gas phase stability; X-ray single crystal study

Published in

Inorganica Chimica Acta
2007, Volume: 360, number: 6, pages: 2045-2055
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ica.2006.10.022

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/14212