Thermal O–H Bond Activation of Water As Mediated by Heteronuclear [Al₂Mg₂O₅]^•+: Evidence for Oxygen-Atom Scrambling

Mechanistic insight into the thermal O–H bond activation of water by the cubane-like, prototypical heteronuclear oxide cluster [Al₂Mg₂O₅]^•+ has been derived from a combined experimental/computational study. Experiments in the highly diluted gas phase using Fourier transform ion-cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry show that hydrogen-atom abstraction from water by the cluster cation [Al₂Mg₂O₅]^•+ occurs at ambient conditions accompanied by the liberation of an OH^• radical. Because of a complete randomization of all oxygen atoms prior to fragmentation, about 83% of the oxygen atoms of the hydroxyl radical released originate from the oxide cluster itself. The experimental findings are supported by detailed high-level quantum chemical calculations. The theoretical analysis reveals that the transfer of a formal hydrogen atom from water to the metal–oxide cation can proceed mechanistically via proton- or hydrogen-atom transfer exploiting different active sites of the cluster oxide. In addition to the unprecedented oxygen-atom scrambling, one of the more general and quite unexpected findings concerns the role of spin density at the hydrogen-acceptor oxide atom. While this feature is crucial for [M–O]⁺/CH₄ couples, it is much less important in the O–H bond activation of water