In this review article, we consider the use of molecular oxygen in reactions mediated by polyoxometalates. Polyoxometalates are anionic metal oxide clusters of a variety of structures that are soluble in liquid phases and therefore amenable to homogeneous catalytic transformations. Often, they are active for electron transfer oxidations of a myriad of substrates and upon reduction can be reoxidized by molecular oxygen. For example, the phosphovanadomolybdate, HPVMoO, can oxidize Pd(0) thereby enabling aerobic reactions catalyzed by Pd and HPVMoO. In a similar vein, polyoxometalates can stabilize metal nanoparticles, leading to additional transformations. Furthermore, electron transfer oxidation of other substrates such as halides and sulfur-containing compounds is possible. More uniquely, HPVMoO and its analogues can mediate electron transfer-oxygen transfer reactions where oxygen atoms are transferred from the polyoxometalate to the substrate. This unique property has enabled correspondingly unique transformations involving carbon-carbon, carbon-hydrogen, and carbon-metal bond activation. The pathway for the reoxidation of vanadomolybdates with O appears to be an inner-sphere reaction, but the oxidation of one-electron reduced polyoxotungstates has been shown through intensive research to be an outer-sphere reaction. Beyond electron transfer and electron transfer-oxygen transfer aerobic transformations, there a few examples of apparent dioxygenase activity where both oxygen atoms are donated to a substrate.

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We have demonstrated that a bipyrimidinylplatinum-polyoxometalate, [Pt(Mebipym)Cl2]+[H4PV2Mo10O40]-, supported on silica is an active catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of methane to methanol in water under mild reaction conditions. Further oxidation of methanol yields acetaldehyde. The presence of the polyoxometalate is presumed to allow the facile oxidation of a Pt(II) intermediate to a Pt(IV) intermediate and to aid in the addition of methane to the Pt catalytic center.

In this Forum Article, we discuss the use of dioxygen (O(2)) in oxidations catalyzed by polyoxometalates. One- and two-electron-transfer oxidation of organic substrates is catalyzed by H(5)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40) and often occurs via an outer-sphere mechanism. The reduced polyoxometalate is reoxidized in a separate step by O(2) with the formation of water. H(5)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40) also catalyzes electron transfer-oxygen transfer reactions. Here, in contrast to the paradigm that high-valent oxo species are often stronger oxygen-transfer species than lower-valent species, the opposite occurs. Thus, oxygen transfer from the catalyst is preceded by electron transfer from the organic substrate. The monooxygenase-type reduction of O(2) with polyoxometalates is also discussed based on the formation of a stable iron(III) hydroperoxide compound that may have implications for the oxidation of other lower-valent polyoxometalates such as vanadium(IV)- and ruthenium(II)-substituted polyoxometalates. Finally, the formation of hybrid compounds through the attachment of electron-accepting polyoxometalates to coordination compounds can modify the reactivity of the latter by making higher-valent oxidation states more accessible.

The electrochemical reduction of CO has been extensively investigated in recent years, with the expectation that a detailed mechanistic understanding could achieve the goal of finding a stable catalyst with high turnover frequencies and low reduction potentials. In the catalytic cycle of the carbon dioxide hydrogenase enzyme, it has been suggested that the reduced metal center reacts with CO to form a carboxylate intermediate that is stabilized by hydrogen bonding using a histidine moiety in the second coordination sphere. Using the well-known fac-Re(I)bipyridine(CO)Cl complex as a starting point, the bipyridine ligand was modified in the second coordination sphere with a thiourea tether that is known to form hydrogen bonds with carbonyl moieties. The resulting Re(I) catalyst was an excellent electrocatalyst for the selective reduction of CO to CO, with a turnover frequency of 3040 s. The binding of CO to the thiourea tether was observable by H NMR, and NOE experiments showed that the hydrogen atoms of the thiourea group were labile. Further experiments indicated that the thiourea moiety is also a local proton source and addition of an external proton source actually inhibits catalysis. The absence of a kinetic isotope effect was explained through DFT calculations that showed that the proton invariably jumps to the nearest CO oxygen atom to form a metal-carboxylic acid without going through any minimum or transition state. EPR and NMR spectroscopies were used to identify the various reduced intermediates. Thus, the thiourea tether in the second coordination sphere can bind CO, stabilize carboxylic acid reaction intermediates, and directly act as a local proton source, leading to a significantly more active catalyst.