Development of a well-defined silica-supported tungstenocarbyne complex as efficient heterogeneous catalyst for alkyne metathesis

The interaction of [W( C-tBu)(CH2-tBu)(OAr)(2)] (Ar = 2,6-iPr(2)C(6)H(3)) (1), with the hydroxyl groups of a silica dehydroxylated at 700 degrees C leads to [( SiO) W(OAr)(2)( C-tBu)] (2) which was characterized by IR, solid-state NMR and mass balance analysis. This well-defined surface species is an efficient catalyst for the metathesis of pent-2-yne. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.