Tuning the Molecular Structure and Reaction Mechanism of Olefin Metathesis by Model Bilayered Supported MoO _x /AlO _x...

The molecular structure and activity of supported MoO _x olefin metathesis catalysts are heavily impacted by the choice of catalyst support. In this study, surface modification of the SiO₂ support with AlO _x and selective anchoring of the MoO _x on the surface AlO _x sites were used to tune the structure, activation, and reactivity of the resulting surface MoO _x sites. Extensive in situ molecular characterization, chemical probe studies, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the enhanced activity of the supported MoO _x /AlO _x /SiO₂ catalyst over the MoO _x /SiO₂ catalyst is associated with more favorable activation and kinetics of surface MoO _x anchored at AlO _x sites.