Reactivity of a Carbon-Supported Single-Site Molybdenum Dioxo Catalyst for Biodiesel Synthesis

A single-site molybdenum dioxo catalyst, (O_c)₂Mo(=O)₂@C, was prepared via direct grafting of MoO₂Cl₂(dme) (dme = 1,2-dimethoxyethane) on high-surface-area activated carbon. The physicochemical and chemical properties of this catalyst were fully characterized by N₂ physisorption, ICP-AES/OES, PXRD, STEM, XPS, XAS, temperature-programmed reduction with H₂ (TPR-H₂), and temperature-programmed NH₃ desorption (TPD-NH₃). The single-site nature of the Mo species is corroborated by XPS and TPR-H₂ data, and it exhibits the lowest reported MoO_x T_max of reduction reported to date, suggesting a highly reactive Mo^VI center. (O_c)₂Mo(=O)₂@C catalyzes the transesterification of a variety of esters and triglycerides with ethanol, exhibiting high activity at moderate temperatures (60-90 °C) and with negligible deactivation. (O_c)₂Mo(=O)₂@C is resistant to water and can be recycled at least three times with no loss of activity. The transesterification reaction is determined experimentally to be first order in [ethanol] and first order in [Mo] with Δ;H^‡ = 10.5(8) kcal mol^-1 and Δ;S^‡ = -32(2) eu. The low energy of activation is consistent with the moderate conditions needed to achieve rapid turnover. This highly active carbon-supported single-site molybdenum dioxo species is thus an efficient, robust, and low-cost catalyst with significant potential for transesterification processes.