A polycondensation
reaction of the orthotungstate anion WO
4
2–
, buffered at pH 7.5 in a TRIS-HCl (0.15
M) solution, results in the first example of a discrete polyoxotungstate
anion, with just two W ions stabilized with TRIS ligands. It was isolated
and characterized as Na
2
[W
VI
2
O
6
(C
4
O
3
NH
10
)
2
]·6H
2
O by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, FT-IR spectroscopy,
thermogravimetrical analysis (TGA), and elemental analysis in solid
state and by electro-spray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS),
13
C, and
183
W NMR, as well as Raman spectroscopy
in solution. This synthesis demonstrates the crucial and new role
of the added tris-alkoxy ligand in the development of a new hybrid
TRIS-isopolytungstate with the lowest known nuclearity (so far) and
the terminal oxygens substituted with two nitrogen atoms arising from
amines of the TRIS ligands.