N-alkylation of organo-imido substituted polyoxometalates: an efficient and stoichiometric approach for the easy post-modification of polyoxometalates.

An efficient protocol for post-functionalization of organo-imido polyoxometalates is developed via creating a remote tertiary “N” atom over the surface of organo-imido hexamolybdates and subsequently post-functionalizing it with the help of allyl or alkyl halides to afford stoichiometric, “in situ” crystalline products at moderate temperatures. The parent organo-imido product 2 and post-functionalized crystalline products 3 and 4 are compared for their solid state structures. The post-functionalization protocol introduced here allows the inclusion of the desired functional groups as remote reactive organic groups over a POM's highly negative surface. The in situ crystallization of post-functionalized products further guarantees an 100% purity of final products, along with 95% yield.