Nanoclusters as Precursors to (MoVW)5O14: In situ and chemical characterisation of the systems of a single phase oxidation catalyst

Abstract The ternary oxide (MoVW)5O14 is considered to be highly significant for catalytic, mild selective oxidation reactions. By using UV/Vis, ESR and 95Mo NMR spectroscopies the coordination chem-istry of the molybdate species in the precursor solutions was studied. This work has established that mixing the precursor solutions (ammonium hepta molybdate, ammonium meta tungstate and vanadyl oxalate) forms a polymeric network in which the vanadyl species act as a linker between the molybdate species. Addition of tungsten atoms significantly enhances the polymerisation proc-es