Anionic molecularm odels for nonhydrolyzed and partially hydrolyzeda luminum and gallium framework sites on silica, M[OSi(OtBu) 3 ] 4 À and HOM[OSi(OtBu) 3 ] 3 À (whereM= Al or Ga), were synthesized from anionic chlorides Li{M[O-Si(OtBu) 3 ] 3 Cl} in salt metathesisr eactions. Sequestration of lithium cationsw ith[ 12]crown-4a fforded charge-separated ion pairs composed of monomeric anionsM [OSi(OtBu) 3 ] 4 À with outer-sphere [([12]crown-4) 2 Li] + cations, and hydroxides {HOM[OSi(OtBu) 3 ] 3 }w ith pendant [([12]crown-4)Li] + cations. These molecular modelsw ere characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, vibrational spectroscopy,m ass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy.U pon treatment of monomeric [([12]crown-4)Li]{HOM[OSi(OtBu) 3 ] 3 }c omplexes with benzyl alcohol, benzyloxide complexes were formed, modeling a possible pathway for the formation of actives ites forM eerwin-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) transfer hydrogenations with Al/ Ga-doped silica catalysts.