J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 9905-9916

9905

Chiral Self-Dimerization of Vanadium Complexes on a SiO2 Surface for Asymmetric
Catalytic Coupling of 2-Naphthol: Structure, Performance, and Mechanism
Mizuki Tada,† Norimichi Kojima,‡ Yasuo Izumi,§ Toshiaki Taniike,† and Yasuhiro Iwasawa*,†
Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The UniVersity of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo,
113-0033, Japan, Department of Basic Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The UniVersity ofTokyo, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan, and Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science andEngineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8502, Japan
ReceiVed: December 16, 2004; In Final Form: March 26, 2005

Vanadium monomers with chiral tridentate Schiff-base ligands were supported on SiO2 through a chemical
reaction with surface silanols, where we found a new chirality creation by the self-dimerization of the vanadyl
complexes on the surface. The chiral self-dimerization and the role of surface silanols in the self-assembly
were investigated by means of X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES), extended X-ray absorption
fine structure (EXAFS), diffuse-reflectance ultraviolet/visible (DR-UV/VIS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), electron spin resonance (ESR), and density functional theory (DFT)
calculations. The surface vanadyl complexes had a distorted square-pyramidal conformation with a VdO
bond. FT-IR spectra revealed that the Ph-O moiety of Schiff-base ligands was converted to Ph-OH by asurface-concerted reaction between the vanadium precursors and surface SiOH groups. The Ph-OH in an
attached vanadyl complex interacted with a COO moiety of another vanadyl complex by hydrogen bonding
to form a self-dimerized structure at the surface. The interatomic distance of V-V in the surface self-assembly
was evaluated to be 0.40 ( 0.05 nm by ESR after O2 adsorption. The self-dimerized V structure on SiO2 wasmodeled by DFT calculations, which demonstrated that two vanadium monomers with Ph-OH linked together
by two hydrogen bonds and their VdO groups were directed opposite to each other. The surface
self-dimerization of the vanadium precursors fixes the direction of the VdO bond and the plane of the Schiffbase ligand. Thus, a new chiral reaction field was created by two types of chirality: the chiral Schiff-baseligand and the chiral V center. We have also found that the chiral self-dimerized vanadyl complexes exhibit
remarkable catalytic performance for the asymmetric oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol: 96% conversion,
100% selectivity to 1,1′-binaphthol (BINOL), and 90% enantiomeric excess (ee). Increasing the vanadiumloading on SiO2 caused a dramatic swell of enantioselectivity, and the maximum 90% ee was observed on
the supported catalyst with the full coverage of the vanadyl complex (3.4 wt % vanadium). This value isequivalent to the maximum ee reported in homogeneous catalysis for the coupling reaction. Furthermore, thesupported vanadium dimers were reusable without loss of the catalytic performance. To our knowledge, thisis the first heterogeneous catalyst for the asymmetric oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol.

1. Introduction
Hundreds of optically active substances are composites, andasymmetric catalysis has an important role in chemical syntheses. The development of asymmetric catalysis has been cultivated in homogeneous metal complexes for the last two
decades.1,2 Vast numbers of chiral ligands were designed andprepared for asymmetric catalysis by homogeneous metal
complexes, and the exact choice of ligands and the precise
geometric regulation on metal sites make high enantioselectivity
possible. Now, the exploitation of new optically pure ligands
is the most productive way to increase enantioselectivity. The
contribution of heterogeneous catalysts to asymmetric catalysis* Corresponding
author:Tel:+81-3-5841-4363.
Fax:+81-3-5800-6892. E-mail: iwasawa@chem.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
† Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The Universityof Tokyo.
‡ Department of Basic Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences,
The University of Tokyo.
§ Tokyo Institute of Technology.

has been quite inferior to that of homogeneous catalysts,
although their multifunctional reaction properties with potential
applications are worthy of special mention. The simple adaptation of homogeneous asymmetric systems to heterogeneous
system is generally not successful. Novel design and control ofheterogeneous surfaces are keys to succeed in heterogeneous
asymmetric catalysis.
1,1′-Binaphthol (BINOL) and its derivatives have beenutilized as versatile chiral sources for asymmetric catalysis, andefficient catalysts for their syntheses are ultimately requested
in many chemical fields.3-6 The oxidative coupling of 2-naphthols is a direct synthesis of BINOL derivatives,7,8 and sometransition metals such as copper,9,10 iron,10,11 and manganese12
are known as active metals for the reaction. However, only few
studies on homogeneous metal complexes have been reported
for the asymmetric coupling of 2-naphthols.13-20 To ourknowledge, there is no report on heterogeneous asymmetriccatalysts for the catalytic coupling reaction.

10.1021/jp044277n CCC: $30.25 © 2005 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 04/26/2005

9906 J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005
In the last three decades, we have designed and successfully
prepared a variety of supported metal complexes on oxidesurfaces, which exhibit unique catalytic activities and selectivities that are different from those of their homogeneous
analogues.21-27 With the aid of several sophisticated spectroscopic techniques, the structures and roles of catalytically active
species on surfaces have been characterized and identified.21-37
Chemical interactions between metal complexes and oxidesurfaces can provide new reactivity of metal species by theconstruction of spatially controlled reaction environment andthe formation of unsaturated active metal species, leading tohigh catalytic activity, selectivity, and durability.33-37
Chiral vanadyl complexes with a VdO moiety have stimulated great interest in both catalysts for oxidative coupling6-20
and some enzymes.38-42 We found that a chiral structure iscreated by the surface-mediated self-dimerization of vanadyl
complexes on SiO2, and the designed vanadyl complexes
supported on the surface are active and enantioselective for theasymmetric oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol: 96% conversion,
100% selectivity to BINOL, and 90% enantiomeric excess (ee)to (R)-BINOL.43 The precursor complexes exhibited only 0%15% conversion and 0%-8% ee. This is the first heterogeneous
catalyst for the asymmetric oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol.
In this paper, we report the detail of the new chirality creationby the chiral self-dimerization of vanadyl complexes on a SiO2
surface, its characterization by X-ray absorption near-edge
spectroscopy (XANES), extendsed X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), diffuse-reflectance ultraviolet/visible (DR-UV/
VIS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), electron spin resonance (ESR), anddensity functional theory (DFT) calculations, and their catalytic
performances for the asymmetric coupling. Surface silanolgroups are demonstrated to have crucial roles in not onlyattaching the vanadyl complexes but also their structural
reconstruction on the surface: the chiral self-dimerization. Thus,
the surface creates new chirality on the vanadyl complexes,
which is not possible in homogeneous systems, because of thequite low energy difference between chiral isomers insolutions.44-46 We have also investigated the mechanistic aspectsof the coupling reaction on the surface.
2. Experimental Section
Synthesis of Six Vanadium Monomer Precursors with
Schiff Bases. All chemicals were purchased from Wako
Chemicals. Vanadium monomer precursors coordinated withchiral R-amino acid-based Schiff bases were synthesized by asimilar method reported previously.47 Here, we briefly summarize the procedure of the preparation: R-amino acid (L-valine,
L-isoleucine, L-leucine, L-tert-leucine, and L-phenylalanine) andsodium acetate were dissolved in distilled water. Salicylaldehydeor hydroxy naphthaldehyde in ethanol was added to the solution,
and an aqueous solution of vanadyl sulfate was slowly added
dropwise with vigorous stirring. The obtained gray precipitate
was collected and washed with distilled water and a mixture ofethanol and ethyl ether. The compound was dried at a temperature of 313 K under vacuum. Recrystallization was performed
in methanol/water, followed by evacuation at 313 K.
Preparation of Supported Vanadyl Complexes. The vanadium monomer complexes were dissolved in dehydrated
ethanol and impregnated under N2 atmosphere with SiO2
(Aerosil 200), Al2O3 (Allon C), and TiO2 (P-25) precalcined at
773 K for 2 h. After stirring for 1 h at ambient temperature, thesolvent was evaporated, and the sample was dried under vacuumfor 7 h. Vanadium loadings were changed in the range of 0.33.4 wt %, which were determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF).

Tada et al.
Transmission and Diffuse-Reflectance Ultraviolet/Visible(UV/VIS) Region. UV/VIS spectra were measured on a JASCO
model V-550-DS spectrometer at room temperature. A vanadiumprecursor was dissolved in ethanol and measured in transmission
mode. The supported vanadyl complexes were enclosed in aquartz cell under N2 atmosphere and evacuated under vacuum.
The supported vanadyl complexes were treated with 2-naphthol
in toluene under a N2 atmosphere, and the solvent wasevacuated.
Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy.
FT-IR spectra were recorded on a JEOL model JIR-7000
spectrometer. Isotope-labeled and nonlabeled L-leucine-derived
vanadium precursors were prepared in a similar way: theoriginal complex without any isotope labeling, the complex
labeled with 13C at the position of CdO, and the complex withboth 13C at CdO and 15N at CdN.
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). XPS spectra wererecorded on a Rigaku model XPS-7000 apparatus at a basepressure of 1 × 10-7 Pa. The X-ray source, voltage, and current
were Mg KR, 10 kV, and 30 mA, respectively. Binding energies
were referred to C 1s (284.8 eV) and Si 2p (103.4 eV). The
peak areas of V 2p5/2 were normalized with references to thoseof O 1s and Si 2p.
Electron Spin Resonance (ESR). ESR X-band spectra forthe supported vanadium catalysts (0.3-3.4 wt %) were recorded
on JEOL model JES-RE2X equipment at 6 K. The first ESR
spectrum was measured under vacuum, and the second spectrum
was measured in the presence of O2. The adsorption of oxygen
was performed twice after evacuation at 293 K. These spectra
were calibrated with MnO2. The changes in ESR spectra were
investigated for both forbidden half-field (|∆Ms| ) 2) andallowed (|∆Ms| ) 1) transitions. The interatomic distance of
V-V was evaluated by the relative intensities of a half-fieldtransition (|∆Ms| ) 2) to a main (|∆Ms| ) 1) transition, which
are inversely proportional to the sixth power of the V-V
distance (r).48 Two vanadium dimers with OdV‚‚‚VdO conformations (two VdO are directed opposite), K4[VO(cit)]2‚6H2O(where cit denotes citrate) with a V-V distance of r )0.3301 nm,49 and Na4[VO(d-tart)]2 (where tart denotes tartrate)with a V-V distance of r ) 0.435 nm50,51 were synthesized
for references and the constant of the inverse proportion was
estimated by the two references with different V-V distances.
The V-V distances of the supported vanadium catalysts before
and after the coordination of 2-naphthol were estimated by O2
adsorption.
X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) Measurements.
XAFS spectra at the V K-edge were measured in transmission
mode at 15 K at the BL-9A station of the Photon Factory in
the Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy
Accelerator Research Organization (KEK-IMSS-PF). Theenergy and current of electrons in the storage ring were
2.5 GeV and 300-450 mA, respectively. X-rays from thestorage ring were monochromatized by Si(111) double crystals,
and higher harmonics were rejected by rhodium-coated cylindrically bent mirrors. Ionization chambers filled with N2/He(30/70) and pure N2 gases were used to monitor incident andtransmitted X-rays, respectively. The XANES spectra were
calibrated with the pre-edge peak positions of spectra for V2O5
and VOSO4 as 5470.6 and 5469.8 eV, respectively.52 The
EXAFS spectra were analyzed with the UWXAFS package.53
The threshold energy (E0) was tentatively set at the inflection
point of the absorption edge. The background was subtracted
by the AUTOBK program, and the obtained k3-weighted
EXAFS data were Fourier-transformed into R-space. Curve-

Chiral Self-Dimerization of Vanadium Complexes

J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005 9907

SCHEME 1: Preparation Route of the ChiralSelf-Dimerized Vanadium Complexes on SiO2aa

Two vanadium monomers are dimerized through two sets ofhydrogen bonds between Ph-OH and COO with each other. The V-V
distance of 0.40 nm was evaluated in the presence of O2.

fitting analysis was performed using the FEFFIT program in
the R-space with two shells: short VdO and long V-O bonds.
The coordination of the VdO bond was fixed as 1.0, based on
the results of XANES. Phase shifts and backscattering amplitudes were calculated by the FEFF8 code.54 The coefficient ofmultiphoton effect (S02) was estimated by curve-fitting for
VOSO4 with a VdO bond.
Density Functional Theory (DFT) Calculation. All ab initio
calculations were performed using a commercially available
density functional code (Dmol3 4.2.155) on a Cerius 2.4.2
graphical interface (Accelrys, USA), where exchange-correlationinteraction was treated by the Perdew-Wang 91 functional(PW91) within a generalized gradient approximation.56 We usedvalence electrons double-numeric basis sets with polarization
functions (DNP), the size of which is comparable to 6-31G**,and core electrons effective core potentials (ECP). Wave
functions that contain the contribution of V atoms include theeffects of spin polarization. Harmonic frequencies were calculated based on the numerical differentiations of total energy.
The Oxidative Coupling of 2-Naphthol. The oxidative
coupling of 2-naphthol was performed on both homogeneousand heterogeneous vanadium catalysts in the temperature rangeof 263-293 K under O2 atmosphere (101.3 kPa). The molar
ratio of vanadium dimer and 2-naphthol was basically fixed to
1/ and 5 mL of solvent (toluene or chloroform) was used. The
36
dependency of the catalytic activity on 2-naphthol concentration
was investigated in a toluene solution with the fixed amount of
a supported vanadium catalyst. The reaction in the absence ofoxygen was also performed under a N2 atmosphere.
3. Results
Supported vanadyl complexes were prepared on three oxides(SiO2, Al2O3, and TiO2), using six vanadium monomers with
Schiff-base ligands, as presented in Scheme 1. Vanadiumloadings were varied from a low concentration (0.3 wt %) up
to almost a full monolayer (3.4 wt %). Only SiO2-supported
catalysts were active and completely selective for the asymmetric oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol, as described hereinafter.
Thus, the SiO2-supported vanadyl complexes were characterized
well.

Figure 1. V K-edge XANES spectra for (a) a vanadium precursor(L-leucine), (b) its SiO2-supported vanadyl complex (3.4 wt %vanadium), and (c) that treated with 2-naphthol.

Figure 2. Relationship between the V 2p3/2 (515.9 eV) XPS peak areaand vanadium loading for the SiO2-supported vanadyl complexes
prepared from L-leucine. The peak areas were normalized to Si 2p peakareas.

X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure (XANES), Ultraviolet/Visible (UV/VIS), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) Spectra for SiO2-Supported Vanadium Complexes. Figure 1 shows V K-edge XANES spectra for avanadium monomer precursor (L-leucine-based Schiff base)(Figure 1a) and its SiO2-supported vanadyl complex (Figure 1b).
Absorption-edge transition is assigned as an electronic transition
from V 1s to a V 4p empty state. In the case of VdO complexes,a parity-forbidden transition from V 1s to V 3d is observed asa sharp pre-edge peak, because of the overlapping of V 3d with
O 2p57 and the mixing of V 3d-4p.52 The pre-edge peak positionreflects vanadium valences.52 A sharp pre-edge peak at
5469.2 eV attributed to the VdO bond for the vanadiumprecursor (see Figure 1a) did not disappear in the spectrum of
the supported vanadyl complex (see Figure 1b), indicating that
the VdO double bond remained unchanged when the vanadiumprecursor was supported on SiO2. The pre-edge peak position(5469.2 eV) of the supported catalyst was same as that of the
precursor. Hence, the valence of the vanadium center is four(V4+) on the surface. No spectral changes were observed upon
the coordination of 2-naphthol (see Figure 1c).
A peak of V 2p3/2 was observed at 515.9 eV in XPS spectra.
The peak area of V 2p3/2, normalized to O 1s and Si 2p peakareas, was plotted against the amount of vanadium loading in
Figure 2. The relative peak area linearly increased in thevanadium loading range of 0.3-3.4 wt %. The binding energiesof the V 2p3/2 were essentially unchanged (515.8-516.0 eV)
for the 0.3-3.4 wt % vanadium catalysts. The binding energies

9908 J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005

Figure 3. (a) Transmitted UV/VIS spectrum of a vanadium precursor(L-leucine) in ethanol, (b) DR-UV/VIS spectra of the SiO2-supported
vanadium catalysts ((‚‚‚) 0.3 wt %, (- - -) 0.8 wt %, (-‚-‚-) 1.6 wt %,and (s) 3.4 wt %), and (c) DR-UV/VIS spectra of those treated withexcess 2-naphthol ((‚‚‚) 0.3 wt %, (- - -) 0.8 wt %, (-‚-‚-) 1.6 wt %,and (s) 3.4 wt %).

are attributed to those of V4+ species; those of V3+ of V(OH)3and V2O3 are 514.1 eV58 and 515.7 eV,59 respectively, whereasthat of VOSO4 (V4+) is 515.9 eV60 and that of V2O5 (V5+) is516.9 eV.59 The coordination of 2-naphthol did not change thebinding energy (515.9 eV), indicating that the vanadium valence
was 4+, in agreement with the XANES results.
Figure 3 shows UV/VIS spectra for the vanadium precursor
and the supported vanadyl complexes. A strong absorption at
380 nm was attributed to azomethyne.61,62 There are no
significant peaks at ∼600 nm in the UV/VIS spectrum of thevanadium-leucine precursor (see Figure 3a). On SiO2, a new
band at ∼550 nm appeared, because of the d-d transition of
the vanadium species (see Figure 3b). With increased vanadiumloading on SiO2 (0.3, 0.8, 1.6, and 3.4 wt %), the new peakgrew at a similar position, as shown in Figure 3b. After thecoordination of 2-naphthol, the peak shifted to 680 nm, andthe peak grew as a function of vanadium loading (seeFigure 3c).
Structural Parameters by Extended X-ray Absorption
Fine Structure (EXAFS). The curve-fitting analysis of V
K-edge EXAFS spectra was performed to examine local
structures around a vanadium center. Figure 4 shows EXAFS
oscillations (denoted with a suffix 1) and their Fouriertransformed EXAFS spectra (denoted with a suffix 2). The
curve-fitting results are presented in Table 1. The XANES
spectra for both the precursor and the supported vanadyl

Tada et al.
complex demonstrated the existence of a VdO double bond:thus, the coordination number (CN) of the VdO bond was fixed
to be 1.0 for the fitting, to minimize fitting errors. The structureof the vanadium precursor (a L-leucine-based Schiff base) is
known by X-ray diffractometry (XRD),63 and the EXAFS curvefitting analysis for the vanadium precursor agreed with the XRD
data (see parts (a) and (d) in Table 1).
EXAFS data for the supported vanadyl complexes wereanalyzed in a similar way. A VdO bond length of 0.157 (0.001 nm is similar to that of the precursor, whereas the CN of
V-O bonds with a length of 0.199 ( 0.002 nm decreased from
3.8 ( 0.4 to 2.8 ( 0.5, as shown in part (b) in Table 1. The
decrease in the CN of V-O upon supporting was also observedfor 0.8-, 1.6-, and 3.4-wt % vanadium samples, independent of
the vanadium loading. Longer-distance bonding was not observed with all the catalysts, indicating that there was no direct
V-V bonding in the supported vanadium catalysts.
The treatment of the supported vanadium catalyst with
2-naphthol caused recovery of the CN of V-O bonds to 4.0 (
0.6 (see part (c) in Table 1). The CN of V-O did not increase
after the addition of excess 2-naphthol (the 2-naphthol/vanadiummolar ratio is 200). No more 2-naphthol molecules coordinatedto the supported vanadyl complex. The VdO double bond length
was 0.157 ( 0.002 nm, similar to that of the fresh sample before
the 2-naphthol coordination. There was no direct V-V bonding
after the coordination of the reactant.
Fourier Trnasform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectra for the
Schiff-Base Ligand. All coordination sites of the Schiff-baseligand to the V4+ center possess infrared-active functionalgroups, Ph-O, Ph ring, CdN, and COO, as shown in Scheme
1. Optionally, vanadium monomers coordinated with L-leucinebased Schiff bases were labeled with isotope atoms 13C and
15N. A complex was substituted with 13CdO, and the othercomplex was substituted with both 15NdC and 13CdO. Table
2 is the summary of the vibration frequencies of these groups,
as measured using FT-IR. Three frequencies (1598, 1373, and1362 cm-1) were assigned as one νasym(COO) vibration and twoνsym(COO) vibrations. The small differences between νasym(COO)and νsym(COO) (∼ 230 cm-1) imply the delocalization of electron
density on the CdO bond to O-CO. Indeed, XRD data for its
crystal reveals that O)CO links with a H2O ligand of anothervanadyl complex by hydrogen bonding. The 1629 cm-1 peakis assigned to ν(CdN), which is coupled with ν(Ph), as suggested
by DFT calculation of the crystal structure. Four peaks of 1547,
1470, 1447, and 1436 cm-1 are referred to ν(Ph), and, indeed,
they were common in the three isotope-labeled complexes (seeTable 2). The strong peak at 1290 cm-1 is attributed to ν(Ph-O).
The frequencies for the crystal structure were calculated by DFT,
which were in agreement with these experimental data.
The IR peaks for the supported catalyst (3.4 wt %) were
attributed to ν(CdN) (1629 cm-1), νasym(COO) (1602 cm-1), ν(Ph)(1554, 1548, 1471, and 1452 cm-1), νsym(COO) (1370 cm-1), andν(Ph-O) (1391 cm-1), as shown in Table 2. The difference
between νasym(COO) and νsym(COO) was also small, which implies
that there is hydrogen bonding on CdO to delocalize electron
density. The ν(CdN), νasym(COO), and νsym(COO) vibrations werevery similar to those of the precursor, indicating no significant
change in the original coordination of these groups upon
supporting. On the other hand, the noted four ν(Ph) peaks weredifferent than those of the precursor, in both their positions andrelative intensities. The peak at 1547 cm-1 for the precursor
split into two peaks, at 1554 and 1548 cm-1. The relative
intensities of the other three peaks at 1470, 1447, and
1436 cm-1 were 1, 2, and 1.4 for the precursor, whereas theChiral Self-Dimerization of Vanadium Complexes

J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005 9909

Figure 4. V K-edge EXAFS oscillations (denoted by the suffix 1) and their associated Fourier-transformed spectra (denoted by the suffix 2) for(a) a vanadium precursor (L-leucine), (b) the supported vanadyl complex on SiO2 (3.4 wt % vanadium), and (c) that treated with 2-naphthol,measured at 16 K. Solid lines and dotted lines in the FT spectra represent observed and fitted spectra for absolute and imaginary parts, respectively.

TABLE 1: Curve-Fitting Results of Fourier Transformed EXAFS Spectra at the V K-edge for a Vanadium Precursor(L-Leucine), Its Fresh Supported Vanadium Complex (3.4 wt % Vanadium), and That Treated with 2-Naphthol, Measured at
16 K, and Crystallographic Structural Parameters by XRD
shellacoordination number

distance (nm)σ2 (nm2)

VdO
V-O(a) Precursor, k ) 30-120 nm-1, R ) 0.10-0.20 nm, Rf ) 0.34%
1.0
0.158 ( 0.001
3.8 ( 0.4
0.198 ( 0.001(3 ( 2) × 10-5
(1 ( 1) × 10-5

VdO
V-O

(b) Supported Vanadium Complex, k ) 30-120 nm-1, R ) 0.10-0.20 nm, Rf ) 0.87%
1.0
0.157 ( 0.001
2.8 ( 0.5
0.199 ( 0.002(1 ( 1) × 10-5
(3 ( 2) × 10-5

VdO
V-O

(c) Treated with 2-Naphthol, k ) 30-120 nm-1, R ) 0.10-0.20 nm, Rf ) 1.70%
1.0
0.157 ( 0.002
4.0 ( 0.6
0.199 ( 0.002(1 ( 2) × 10-5
(2 ( 2) × 10-5(d) Crystal (XRD)b
VdO
V-OPh
V-N
V-OCO
V-OH2
a

1
1
1
1
1

0.15890.19210.20430.19750.2008The coordination number of VdO was fixed to be unity. b From ref 63.

peak at 1436 cm-1 disappeared for the supported complex andthe relative intensities of the former two peaks were 1 and 2.7,
respectively. Furthermore, the ν(Ph-O) vibration at 1290 cm-1
for the precursor dramatically shifted to 1391 cm-1 upon
supporting. Such a large shift was observed between Ph-ONa
and Ph-OH; the ν(Ph-O) of the ionized molecule Ph-ONa islocated at 1309 cm-1, whereas the ν(Ph-O) of Ph-OH coupledwith a ν(OH) vibration is located at 1373 cm-1. Therefore, thelarge shift of ν(Ph-O) and the changes in the intensity ratio of
ν(Ph) were caused by the structural reconstruction of the Ph-O
coordination to produce new Ph-OH that was promoted byproton transfer from SiOH. The entire data set for the behaviors

of other vibrations reveal that the supported vanadyl complex
possesses V r N coordination, V-OCO bonding, and
Ph-OH. Similar results were obtained for 0.3-, 0.8-, 1.6- and3.4-wt % SiO2-supported vanadyl complexes.
Evaluation of the V-V Interatomic Distance by Electron
Spin Resonance (ESR). Figure 5 shows X-band ESR spectra
at 6 K for the L-leucine-based vanadium precursor (panel A),
the supported vanadyl complex (3.4 wt % vanadium) (panels b
and B), and that treated with 2-naphthol (panels c and C).
Hyperfine signals for the precursor in methanol were observed
due to d1 configuration of the V4+ ions (panel a). The
relationships g| < g⊥ and A| . A⊥ demonstrate an axially9910 J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005

Tada et al.

TABLE 2: Vibration Frequencies Measured for Isotope
Nonlabeled and Isotope-Labeled L-Leucine-Based VanadiumComplexesa and the Supported Vanadium Complex(L-Leucine),b Using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR)
Spectroscopy
vibration mode

12

C, 14N13

C, 14N13

C, 15Nν(CdN)
νasym (COO)
ν(Ph)

1629
1598
1547

1632
1560
1548

1617
1559
1546

ν(Ph)cν(Ph)cν(Ph)cνsym (COO)

1470
1447
1436
1373
1362
1290
1007

1470
1447
1435
1353
1330
1289
1006

1470
1446
1435
1351
1330
1290
1007

ν(Ph-O)
ν(VdO)

supportedvanadium complexb
1629
1602
1554
1548
1471
1452
1370
negligible
1391
NDd

a
KBr disk. b Neat disk, containing 3.4 wt % vanadium. c Relative
intensity of the three peaks (1470/1448/1436 cm-1) changed from
1/2.0/1.4 to 1/2.7/0 after the supporting. d Not determined, because of
the large SiO2 background.

compressed d1xy configuration of the VdO complex.64-66 For
the vanadyl complexes supported on SiO2, two different signals
were observed in panel b1 of Figure 5. A broad signal wassuperposed with the hyperfine feature that represented the d1xy
configuration, and the hyperfine coupling constants wereg| ) 1.948, A| ) 17.01 cm-1, and g⊥ ) 1.991, A⊥ ) 6.49 cm-1.
Its half-field signal was negligible, as shown in panel B of
Figure 5.
Oxygen is necessary for the oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol.
The amount of adsorbed oxygen at 293 K was negligible forall the supported vanadium catalysts (0.3-3.4 wt %) in thepressure range of 0-50 kPa. At 195 K, the amount of adsorbed
oxygen increased to ∼0.2 O2 per vanadium dimer for all of thevanadium-loading catalysts. The similar amounts of adsorbed
oxygen in all the catalysts indicate that the similar O2-adsorbed
structure is formed on SiO2 in the vanadium-loading range of
0.3-3.4 wt %. The O2 adsorption was totally reversible on the
supported vanadyl complexes. After the coordination of 2-naphthol, a similar amount of oxygen was adsorbed on the supported
vanadyl complex (3.4 wt %) and the process was also reversible.
Thus, we measured the ESR spectra after O2 adsorption on the
supported vanadyl complexes at 6 K, where the complexes may
be saturated with adsorbed O2. The adsorption of O2 on the
supported vanadyl complex dramatically increased the broad
signal, as shown in panel b1 of Figure 5. A new peak also
appeared at the half field of the main signal, which was
attributed to a forbidden transition, the half band of the|∆Ms| ) 2 half band (panel B of Figure 5). The transition(|∆Ms| ) 2) is normally forbidden; however, the triplet stateof two d1 electrons can be observed as a weak transition aroundhalf-field position when two metal species are located nearby.
Thus, these signals prove the existence of a V-V interaction
stimulated by the O2 adsorption. The ratio of the intensity of
the |∆Ms| ) 2 half band to that of the |∆Ms| ) 1 half band isrelated to the sixth power of the interatomic distance of V-V
as follows:48

Intensity (|∆Ms| ) 2)
) Cr-6
Intensity (|∆Ms| ) 1)

(1)

where r is the V-V distance and C is a constant. Based on two
V d1 dimers with OdV‚‚‚VdO coupled structures, whose
VdO structures are directed outside of V-V, K4[VO(cit)]2‚

Figure 5. ESR spectra at 6 K for a vanadium precursor (L-leucine) inmethanol (panel a), the SiO2-supported vanadyl complex (3.4 wt %vanadium) in the absence (gray line) and presence (black line) of O2(panel b shows the main signal, and panel B shows the half band), andthat treated with 2-naphthol in the absence (gray line) and presence(black line) of O2 (panel c shows the main signal, and panel C shows
the half band). ESR measurements after the adsorption and desorptionof O2 were performed twice on the supported vanadyl complex; panel
b1 represents data for the first run, and panel b2 represents data forthe second run.

6H2O (with a V-V distance of r ) 0.3301 nm)49 andNa4[VO(d-tart)]2 (with a V-V distance of r ) 0.435 nm)50,51
were used as references and the relative constant C wasdetermined. The V-V distance of the supported vanadyl
complex (3.4 wt % vanadium) was evaluated to be r ) 0.40 (0.05 nm, using eq 1. After the evacuation of oxygen at 293 K,
the ESR signal returned to the original intensity before theadsorption, as shown in panel b2 in Figure 5 and the half-band
signal disappeared. The behavior in the ESR spectra wasreversible for the evacuation at 293 K and the readsorption ofoxygen at 6 K, as shown in panel b2 in Figure 5.
The coordination of 2-naphthol maintained the axiciallycompressed d1 configuration of the vanadyl complex. A broad
signal similar to that before the 2-naphthol coordination wasobserved (see panel c in Figure 5). The effect of O2 adsorption
on the ESR signal was also observed after the coordination of
2-naphthol: a large increase in the broad main signal and theappearance of a weak half band (see panels C and c in Figure5). The distance of V-V interaction was evaluated to ber ) 0.40 ( 0.05 nm, which is identical to the case of the
supported vanadyl complex without 2-naphthol.

Chiral Self-Dimerization of Vanadium Complexes

Figure 6. Structure of the self-dimerized vanadyl complex on SiO2
modeled by DFT; the top panel shows the top view and the bottom
panle shows the side view. Legend is as follows: red, vanadium; green,
nitrogen; blue, oxygen; gray, Ph ring; and yellow, isobutyl group derived
from L-leucine.

Density Functional Theory (DFT) Modeling of the SiO2Supported Vanadyl Complex. The structure of the supported
vanadyl complex was modeled by DFT calculation, as presented
in Figure 6. From the entire set of experimental data, thefollowing conclusions were obtained:(1) The vanadium valence is four (XANES and XPS),(2) the vanadium conformation is distorted square pyramidal(XANES and DR-UV/VIS),(3) the supported vanadyl complex has a coordinatively
unsaturated structure with a VdO double bond at 0.157 (0.001 nm and three single V-O(N) bonds at 0.199 ( 0.002
nm (XANES and EXAFS),(4) there is no direct bonding between two V ions (EXAFS
and ESR),(5) the azomethyne backbone of Schiff-base ligands ispreserved (DR-UV/VIS),(6) the coordination of V r N and the delocalized V r OCO
unchange (FT-IR),(7) the Ph-OH moiety is formed (FT-IR), and(8) another vanadyl complex is located at a distance g0.4
nm away from a vanadyl complex (ESR).
Therefore, we investigated the following two issues: (i) the
chemical attachment of the vanadium precursor on SiO2, and(ii) the assembly of vanadyl complexes on the surface.

J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005 9911
There are four probabilities for a chemical reaction between
the vanadium precursor and surface Si-OH; these are depicted
in Scheme 2. Judging from the results of FT-IR, the former
two models in Scheme 2 (reactions 1 and 2) were excluded;
indeed, they were not allowed by DFT either. The decrease in
the CN on the V atom and the structural change in the Ph-O
moiety suggested that both reactions 3 and 4 in Scheme 2 should
be considered: the coordinated H2O of the vanadium precursor
is replaced by Si-OH to release the H2O that is post-evacuatedunder vacuum, and a proton of the coordinated Si-OH istransferred to Ph-O to form Ph-OH. In fact, the resultant
structure was elucidated to be stable by DFT calculation(VdO, 0.161 nm; V-N, 0.208 nm; V-OCO, 0.195 nm; andV-OSi, 0.192 nm). The Ph-OH was possible to interact with
the V atom through hydrogen bonding at 0.212 nm; however,this disagreed with the decrease in the coordination number.
Thus, other interactions to dispatch the Ph-OH group from theV atom were examined.
We investigated three possible models of vanadium assemblyon SiO2 suggested by ESR: (a) a model with two VdO bonds
directed inside the vanadium dimer (VdO‚‚‚OdV), (b) avanadyl-complex assembly arrayed in the same direction(VdO‚‚‚VdO), and (c) an assembled structure whose VdO
are directed opposite to each other (OdV‚‚‚VdO). Theseplausible assemblies were built on a silica cluster optimized by
DFT, and the entire obtained units were further optimized by
DFT. In the cases of structures (a) and (b), positive interaction
between two vanadtyl complexes never stabilized any reconformed structures. In fact, the VdO bond(s) directed inside
two V atoms disturbed the assembling of the vanadyl complexes
bound to Si-OH. On the other hand, only the third vanadium
assembly with OdV‚‚‚VdO conformation was shown to bestabilized on the surface by DFT. Two vanadyl complexes ona silica cluster dimerized by hydrogen bonding between theformed Ph-OH of a vanadyl complex and the OdCO moietyof the other vanadyl complex are shown in Figure 6. The two
sets of hydrogen bonding between two vanadyl complexes
stabilized the unsaturated vanadium centers. The differences inthe bond distances of OdC and C-Os0.002 nm in the
DFT-modeled structureswas similar to that of the vanadiumprecursor (0.004 nm) and was much different from that of themonomer model (0.011 nm). This delocalization of COO by
the hydrogen bonding on the CdO also was in agreement with
the COO frequencies presented in Table 2.
A vanadyl complex with R-amino acid-based Schiff ligands
have two chiral conformations on the vanadium center; however,their energy difference was calculated to be <1 kJ/mol.44-46
For this small energy difference, the two chiral isomers coexist
with a similar concentration in solution. The surface selfdimerization of the vanadium precursor fixes the direction of
VdO and the plane of the Schiff-base ligand, and, as a result,the chirality on a vanadium center is preserved on the surface.
The two types of chiralitysthe chiral Schiff-base ligand andthe chirality on a vanadium centerscreate a new asymmetric
reaction space on the supported vanadium-dimer complex, whichis unique on the surface.
The cross section of the supported vanadium-dimer complex
was estimated from the DFT model of the grafted vanadiummonomer. The (HO)3Si-O moiety was removed from the
Si(OH)3-O-grafted model and the cross section of the remaining
unit, viewed from the direction of the Si-O(-V) bond normal
to the surface, was calculated as the cross section of thevanadium-dimer complex. The vanadium loading of 3.4 wt %9912 J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005

Tada et al.

SCHEME 2: Possible Chemical Reactions between a Vanadium Precursor and Surface Si-OHaa(1) CdNR′ f V + Si-OH f CdNH+R′ + V-OSi. (2) OdCO-V + Si-OH f OdCOH + V-OSi. (3) Ph-O-V + Si-OH f Ph-OH+ V-OSi. (4) H2O f V + Si-OH f H2O + V r HO-Si.

TABLE 3: Catalytic Activities, Selectivities, and Enantiomeric Excess (ee) in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Vanadium
Catalyses for the Oxidative Coupling of 2-Naphtholacatalyst-ligandb

temperature
(K)

time
(day)

solvent

conversion(%)

selectivity(%)

precursor-Lc
precursor-Lc,dprecursor-Lc,d
V-L/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-L/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-L/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-L/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-L/Al2O3, 1.7 wt %V-L/TiO2, 0.8 wt %V-V/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-V/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-V/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-I/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-I/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-I/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-L/SiO2, 0.3 wt %e
V-L/SiO2, 0.3 wt %e
V-tert-L/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-F/SiO2, 0.3 wt %V-F/SiO2, 0.3 wt %

293
293
263
293
263
293
263
293
293
293
293
263
293
263
293
293
263
263
293
263

5
3
9
5
5
5
5
5
5
2
5
6
3
5
2
2
6
5
5
5

CHCl3
CHCl3
CHCl3
CHCl3
CHCl3
toluenetoluene
CHCl3
CHCl3
CHCl3
toluenetoluene
CHCl3
CHCl3
toluenetoluenetoluenetoluene
CHCl3
CHCl3

0
15
0
76
9
96
11
69
52
26
99
12
37
6
41
40
9
11
81
9

0
73
0
100
100
100
100
53
0
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

ee (R)
(%)
8
19
54
13
32
-2
12
5
14
17
51
21
13
31
12
10
56

a
The vanadium dimer/2-naphthol ratio was 1/36, and 100 mg of supported catalysts were used in 5 mL of toluene. b L, L-leucine; V, L-valine; I,
L-isoleucine; tert-L, L-tert-leuicne; and F, L-phenylalanine. c Homogeneous reaction. d Chlorotrimethylsilane (TMSCl) was added as acid. e Hydroxynaphthaldehyde was coordinated instead of salicylaldehyde.

corresponded to full coverage, based on the calculated crosssection (0.52 nm2 per vanadyl complex) on the SiO2 surface(200 m2/g).
Catalytic Performances for the Asymmetric Oxidative
Coupling of 2-Naphthol. The catalytic oxidative coupling of
2-naphthol was performed on a vanadyl-complex precursor(homogeneous catalyst) and supported vanadyl complexes on
SiO2, Al2O3, and TiO2 (heterogeneous catalysts). Table 3
summarizes the catalytic activities, selectivities, and enantiomeric excess (ee) of homogeneous and heterogeneous vanadiumcatalysts for the oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol. The homogeneous reactions on a representative L-leucine-based vanadiummonomer were performed in CHCl3 in the absence and presenceof chlorotrimethylsilane (TMSCl) as an acidic promoter. The
vanadium-monomer precursor did not exhibit the catalytic
activity without TMSCl. In the presence of TMSCl, the reaction
proceeded slightly (15% conversion) at 293 K, but the selectivity
to BINOL and ee to (R)-BINOL were quite low (73% and 8%,

respectively), as shown in Table 3. Furthermore, a loss ofactivity was observed. At 263 K, no reaction proceeded after 9
days.
The oxide-supported vanadium catalysts showed remarkable
performances for the oxidative coupling (see Table 3). The SiO2supported vanadium dimers (self-assembled from the vanadiummonomer precursor) were active and 100% selective for BINOL
in both CHCl3 and toluene solutions. The activity in toluene
was 1.3 times greater than that in CHCl3. CHCl3 was a better
solvent to maximize ee than toluene. However, some vanadyl
complexes leached out into the CHCl3 solution after the reaction,
whereas no leaching was observed in toluene. Al2O3 and TiO2
were not suitable as supports for the vanadium precursor (seeTable 3). On Al2O3, the selectivity toward BINOL was only
53% and was not enantioselective (-2%) in CHCl3. The TiO2supported vanadium complex did not produce BINOL (0%selectivity). The both supported catalysts produced no BINOL
in toluene (not listed).

Chiral Self-Dimerization of Vanadium Complexes

J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005 9913

TABLE 4: Variation of Catalytic Performances andEnantiomeric Excess (ee) of the L-Leucine-Based VanadiumComplexes on SiO2 in the 2-Naphthol Coupling with
Vanadium Loadinga
vanadiumloading(wt %)

time(day)

conversion(%)

selectivity(%)

ee (R)
(%)

0.3
0.3c
0.8
1.6
3.4
3.4c

5
5
5
5
11
11

11
10
33
42
93
91

100
100
100
100
100
100

32
33
39
48
90
89

turnoverfrequency,
TOF (day-1)b
0.4
1.2
1.5
1.5

a

All the reactions were performed in 5 mL of toluene at 263 K,
100 mg of catalyst were used, and the vanadium dimer/2-naphthol ratio
was fixed to 1/36. b The turnover frequency is a reaction rate defined as
the number of BINOL molecules produced per vanadium dimer perday. c Reused.

The effect of ligands to enantioselectivity was investigatedon the SiO2-supported vanadium (0.3 wt %) catalysts amongsix different Schiff-base ligands. TOFs (turnover frequencies),
which are defined as the reaction rates of BINOL formation
per vanadium dimer, were similar to all the SiO2-supported
vanadium catalysts. A L-valine-based vanadyl complex (5%14% ee) was less enantioselective, compared to a L-leucinebased complex (32% ee in toluene at 263 K). On the other hand,
there is negligible difference between vanadyl complexes
prepared from L-isoleucine (51% ee, CHCl3, 263 K), L-leucine(54% ee, CHCl3, 263 K), and L-phenylalanine (56% ee, CHCl3,
263 K). The substitution of salicylaldehyde to hydroxy naphthaldehyde on the L-leucine complex did not lead to an
improvement in enantioselectivity (31% ee in toluene at
263 K). The most bulky ligand, L-tert-leucine, reduced theenantioselectivity to 12% ee in toluene at 263 K. The choice ofligands was not a primary factor to determine the enantioselectivity. In toluene without a leaching of vanadyl complexes,
the maximum ee was as small as 32% ee for the L-leucine
vanadyl complex on SiO2.
The vanadium loading on SiO2 including a L-leucine segment
was varied over a loading range of 0.3-3.4 wt %, to maximize
the enantioselectivity for the coupling reaction (Table 4). No
leaching of vanadyl complexes was observed for all the
supported catalysts in toluene. With increased vanadium loadings (0.3, 0.8, 1.6, and 3.4 wt %), the enantioselectivity
dramatically increased (32%, 39%, 48%, and 90% ee, respectively), as shown in Table 4. The 3.4 wt % vanadium catalyst,
which corresponded to full coverage of the vanadyl complex,
exhibited 90% ee, which was comparable to the best performance for the coupling of 2-naphthol on a homogeneous catalyst
reported thus far. Furthermore, the supported vanadium catalysts
can be reused after filtration and exhibited similar catalytic
performances, as shown in Table 4.
The reaction rates (TOFs) were proportional to the concentration of 2-naphthol in the concentration range of <0.07 mol/L,
as shown in Figure 7, and the TOFs were saturated at the higher
concentrations. Thus, the TOFs in Table 4 are dependent on
the concentrations of the supported vanadyl complex and thereactant. The catalytic activity per vanadium dimer of the
supported vanadyl complexes was independent of the vanadiumloading. Because the vanadium loadings of 1.6 and 3.4 wt %correspond to 2-naphthol concentrations of 0.11 and 0.24 mol/L, respectively, the reactions on the catalysts with 1.6 and3.4 wt % vanadium were conducted in the saturated region (seeFigure 7).

Figure 7. Relationship between the concentration of 2-naphthol andthe catalytic activity (turnover frequency, TOF) for the oxidative
coupling of 2-naphthol. The catalytic reactions were performed on
100 mg of catalyst with 0.3 wt % vanadium (vanadium dimer content
of 3.3 × 10-6 mol) in 5 mL of toluene at 263 K.

TABLE 5: Catalytic Activities of the Supported VanadiumComplex (0.3 wt % Vanadium) for the 2-Naphthol Couplingin the Absence and Presence of O2arunnumberatmosphereb

turnover frequency,
TOF (day-1)

1
2
3

O2
N2
O2d

3.6
0.24c
3.7

a
The vanadium dimer/2-naphthol ratio was 1/36, the catalyst mass
was 100 mg, and the toluene volume was 5 mL. b At a pressure of
101.3 kPa. c The reaction stopped and no more product was detected
for longer reaction. d N2 was evacuated after run 2 and O2 was admitted
to the system.

TABLE 6: Activation Energies, Activation Enthalpies, andActivation Entropies for the Oxidative Coupling of
2-Naphthol on the Supported Vanadium Catalyst (3.4 wt %Vanadium)solvent

activation energy, activation enthalpy, activation entropy,∆qH (kJ/mol)a∆qS (J K-1 mol-1)
Ea (kJ/mol)toluene
CHCl3

47
49

45
47

-144
-140

a
∆qH was calculated using the following equation: ∆qH )Ea - RT.

Table 5 shows TOFs on the supported vanadium catalyst in
the presence and absence of O2, and Table 6 shows kinetic
parameters such as activation energies, activation enthalpy, andactivation entropies for the oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol.
The TOF under O2 was 3.6 day-1. On the other hand, when N2
was admitted to the same reaction system after evacuation ofO2, the TOF was as slow as 0.24 day-1. The reaction completely
stopped and no BINOL was further produced in a prolong
reaction. This limited amount of produced BINOL under N2
may be due to the residual O2 that remained after the O2
evacuation. The admission of O2 to the reaction system
recovered the initial catalytic activity to 3.7 day-1. Hence, thepresence of O2 is a prerequisite for the oxidative coupling of
2-naphthol. The activation energies, activation enthalpies, andactivation entropies were 47 kJ/mol, 45 kJ/mol, and -144 J
K-1 mol-1, respectively, in toluene and 49 kJ/mol, 47 kJ/mol,and -140 J K-1 mol-1, respectively, in CHCl3. There was no
significant solvent effect on these kinetic parameters.
4. Discussion
4.1. Chiral Self-Dimerization of Vanadium Complexes on
SiO2. Assembled structures often provide amazing events incatalysis that are different from those in monomer catalysis, bycreating new reaction sites/spaces and controlling dynamic

9914 J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005
behavior of metal sites. For examples, rhodium dimeric structures on SiO2 are crucial to exhibit high catalytic activity foralkene hydrogenation.34,35 The expanded framework of Ru6C
clusters on MgO is a key issue for H2/CO reaction to produce
oxygen-containing products.28 Rhodium dimers on SiO2 that arecapable of reversible breaking/regeneration of the Rh-Rh bondare selective for ethene hydroformylation.29,30 Dimeric cobalt
species on Al2O3 promote catalytic NO-CO reaction, in contrast
to the inactivity of isolated cobalt monomers.31 Thus, it isultimately important to explore a new way to design an active
assembly of metal complexes on oxide surfaces in a controllable
manner.
The vanadium precursors coordinated with Schiff-base ligands
are monomeric in alcohol solutions,67 and two diastereomers
exist, because of the two possible directions of VdO, relative
to the face of the tridentate ligands. The energy difference
between the two diastereomers was calculated to be <1 kJ/
mol,44-46 indicating that the two diastereomers coexist in similar
concentrations in solutions. In crystal form, no direct V-Vinteraction is observed: the shortest interatomic length is
0.6816 nm.63 There is no attractive force producing a V-Vinteraction in the structure of the vanadium precursor itself.
The pre-edge position of the V K-edge XANES spectra in
Figure 1 and the XPS V 2p binding energies reveal that thevanadium valence in the supported vanadyl complexes remains
at 4, which is as same as that of the vanadium precursor. Upon
supporting, a VdO bond was preserved, but the symmetry of
the vanadyl complexes became distorted, as monitored by theappearance of a d-d transition in the DR-UV/VIS spectra.
These behaviors were observed regardless of the amount of
vanadium loading. Thus, an increase in vanadium loading on
SiO2 does not cause the distortion of vanadium species. Such
distorted structures are typically unstable in solutions and easily
decompose during catalytic reactions, although they are catalytically active. The surface, as a large ligand for the metal
complexes, not only gives the steric distortion to activate themetal complexes but also prevents such active species fromdecomposing by immobilizing the metal species.
The EXAFS and FT-IR spectra of the supported vanadyl
complexes reveal the a unique surface-attaching reaction thatis promoted by surface Si-OH groups. The decrease in the CN
of V-O(N) bonds indicates that the vanadium center becomesunsaturated on the surface. The large shift of ν(Ph-O) and thechange in the intensity ratio of ν(Ph), together with thecomparison of FT-IR spectra between Ph-OH and Ph-ONa,demonstrate that the PhO- coordination is dispatched from thevanadium center by the reaction of the vanadium precursor with
the Si-OH to form a Ph-OH group, as illustrated in
Scheme 1.
The unsaturated vanadium centers were stabilized by the two
sets of hydrogen bonding between the two vanadyl complexes,
which were the driving force for the self-dimerization of thevanadyl complexes at the surface, as shown by DFT calculations.
The ESR spectra for the supported vanadyl complexes in Figure
5 demonstrate the existence of two vanadyl complexes nearby.
The vanadium-monomer precursor in solution showed hyperfine
signals in ESR spectrum due to V nucleus spin (see Figure 5a),whereas a significant broad signal was observed in addition to
the hyperfine signals in Figure 5b. The broad signal indicatesthat the vanadyl complexes assemble on the surface to cause
V-V dipole coupling. The large increase in the intensity ofthe broad signal and the appearance of a half band by oxygen
adsorption (see Figure 5) evidences the dimerization of two
vanadium species at a distance of 0.40 ( 0.05 nm. The bondTada et al.
length of O2 and the average distance of the V-O coordination
are 0.111 nm and 0.20-0.21 nm, respectively: therefore, thetwo V atoms should be located at a distance of >0.40 nm and<0.53 nm. The V-V distance determined by the ESR analysis
agrees well with these values. Adsorbed oxygen bridges the two
V atoms.
The coupling of two vanadium monomers on a silica cluster
was successfully modeled by DFT calculations. Figure 6
visualizes the assembled dimer structure of the L-leucine-based
vanadyl complexes, where two monomers are bonded to eachother with two sets of hydrogen bonding between the Ph-OH
and the carbonyl oxygen of COO. We have examined all
possible hydrogen bondings of the Ph-OH with functionalgroups of the adjacent vanadyl complexes by DFT calculations,for example, Ph-OH‚‚‚HO-Ph, Ph-OH‚‚‚OdV, etc. The othercombinations for hydrogen bonding did not give reasonableassembled structures. The conformation with two VdO bonds
directed toward the outside of these complexes in Figure 6 was
the sole model to totally agree with the EXAFS, FT-IR, and
ESR data. The electronic delocalization of COO moiety showeda small shift in asymmetric and symmetric COO frequencies(see Table 2). The hydrogen bonding that drives the dimerization
relaxes the preservation of free Ph-OH to easily coordinate
back to vanadium and maintains the unsaturated structure of
the vanadium center to be active for the catalytic coupling
reaction. Furthermore, the fixing of the VdO direction by thetridentate ligand in the vanadium dimeric structure causes a
fastening chirality on the vanadium center. The isomers cannot
be discriminated in solutions. Two chiral isobutyl groups derived
from L-leucine overhang outside the assembly, and a chiralreaction space is constructed inside the space that is surroundedby the two vanadyl complexes, as shown in Figure 6.
The behavior of vanadyl complexes on SiO2 was independentof the vanadium loading, which suggests that the surface
vanadyl-complex assembly proceeds even at the low vanadiumloading (∼0.3 wt %). Surface silanol groups react with thevanadium precursors to form Ph-OH that promotes the dimerization. Note that the chiral self-dimerization of vanadyl
complexes coordinated with Schiff bases occurs exclusively on
the SiO2 surface, as promoted by the surface Si-OH. It is aserious problem to create uniform active structures on heterogeneous surfaces for the design of selective heterogeneous
catalysts. Particularly, heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis is,
to a great extent, damaged by the heterogeneity of surfaces.
The catalytic activity of supported catalysts is often derived fromthe unsaturated property of metal species; however, the removalof ligands to make unsaturated metal centers is fatal to build
enantioselectivity, because of a dramatic reduction of theasymmetric field on the metal sites. We have determined thatnovel chiral self-dimerization of the vanadyl complexes produced the active unsaturated structure with a new chiralconformation on a SiO2 surface, which occurred on the surface,and provided highly enantioselective active sites for the asymmetric oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol.
4.2. Mechanism for the Oxidative Coupling of 2-Naphthol.
The unsaturated vanadium dimer is easily coordinated with
2-naphthol, accompanied with an increase in the CN of V-O(from 3 to 4, as characterized by EXAFS in Table 1). Despite
the addition of excess amount of 2-naphthol, a V site accommodates only one 2-naphthol molecule. The coupling reaction
for the synthesis of one BINOL molecule requires two 2-naphthol molecules, and the vanadium dimer structure is advantageous to react two 2-naphthol molecules activated on two

Chiral Self-Dimerization of Vanadium Complexes

J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005 9915

Figure 8. Proposed mechanism for the oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol on the chiral self-dimerized vanadyl complex on SiO2 under the saturated
adsorption of 2-naphthol. A vanadyl complex is simply shown as V in the illustration, to avoid complexity.

adjacent V sites in the vanadium dimer to form BINOL.
Monomer structures are entropically disadvantageous for the
coupling.
The dimer structure is also efficient to activate oxygen
molecules. The dissociation of a strong OdO bond requires
extremely unsaturated metal species in low valence states;
however, the following reactions often stop, because of toostable metal-oxygen bonds that are produced after the bondbreaking of OdO. Similar amounts of oxygen were adsorbed
before and after the coordination of 2-naphthol. Hence, an
oxygen molecule weakly adsorbs on the vanadium dimer without
losing its reactivity. The catalytic reaction did not proceed in
the absence of oxygen. Thus, weakly adsorbed oxygen molecules are suggested to be active species for the hydrogenextraction of 2-naphthol (Figure 8).
A proposed mechanism of the asymmetric oxidative couplingof 2-naphthol is depicted in Figure 8. Initially, 2-naphthol
coordinates to an unsaturated V center and then an O2 molecule
adsorbs on the vanadium dimer in a bridging fashion, as
indicated from the V-V separation that has been determinedby ESR. In the third step, the activated oxygen extracts the Hatom of the hydroxyl group of the coordinated 2-naphthol.
Finally, two dehydrogenated 2-naphthols couple together to form
BINOL in the hollowed slit of the vanadium dimer structure in
Figure 6. The 2-naphthol coordination and oxygen adsorption
were too fast to monitor the rates; therefore, these two steps
are not rate-determining for the coupling reaction. The reaction
rate was first-order, in regard to the 2-naphthol concentration,
as shown in Figure 7 (region (a)). Hence, it is suggested thatthe third step, hydrogen transfer from 2-naphthol to the oxygen
molecule, is a rate-determining step and the subsequent coupling
reaction to form BINOL should be faster. This also implies thatthe hydrogen abstraction of the second 2-naphthol by the halfhydrogenated oxygen (V-OOH) is much faster than that of thefirst 2-naphthol in the third step.
4.3. Asymmetric Catalysis of the Chiral Self-Dimerzied
Vanadyl Complexes on SiO2. Enantioselectivity was not
modified by the chiral alkyl groups of Schiff-base ligands, as

shown in Table 3. We have examined six ligands with different
shapes for the vanadium precursors listed in Scheme 1 (alsosee the Experimental Section). Relatively small L-valine wasless enantioselective, and ligands larger than butyl groups were
determined to be necessary for the enantioselectivity. However,a sufficient increase in the enantioselectivity was not observedwith L-leucine, L-isoleucine, and L-phenylalanine, despite thefact that the size and shape of these amino acids were muchdifferent on a size level of methyl and phenyl groups. The mostbulky ligand, L-tert-leucine, has a tert-butyl group neighboring
the V reaction site, but it reduced the enantioselectivity. These
two alkyl groups overhung outside the vanadyl complexes
illustrated in Figure 6, and they seemingly did not affect theasymmetric coupling of 2-naphthol.
It is worthy to note that the enantioselectivity of the coupling
reaction is determined by the chiral conformation on the V
center, rather than the chirality of Schiff-base ligands. The
chirality of the ligands sterically affects the chiral selfdimerization of vanadyl complexes on the surface, and the chiralligands themselves do not determine the enantioselectivity forthe 2-naphthol coupling. The increase in vanadium loading on
SiO2 achieved the higher regulation of mobility of the assembled
vanadium species on the surfaces, resulting in the high enantioselectivity (90% at 93% conversion) on the catalyst with
3.4 wt % vanadium, compared to the case of the catalyst with
0.3 wt % vanadium with the same vanadium structure (seeTable 4).
4. Conclusion
The chiral self-dimerization of vanadium-monomer complexes
with amino-acid-based Schiff bases was discovered on a SiO2
surface, which was characterized by ESR, XPS, UV/VIS,
FT-IR, XAFS, and DFT. A new chirality was created on thevanadium center by the self-dimerization. The self-assembling
was initiated by the reaction of the vanadium monomers withsurface Si-OH groups. The hydrogen (proton) of surface silanol
was transferred to the Ph-O moiety of the Schiff-base ligand

9916 J. Phys. Chem. B, Vol. 109, No. 20, 2005
to form a Ph-OH group, which makes a hydrogen bonding
with a carboxyl group of the adjacent vanadium monomer on
the surface. The two sets of hydrogen bonding are the origin of
the dimerization of two vanadium monomers. ESR spectra in
the presence of oxygen demonstrated the assembling of vanadyl
complexes at the V-V interatomic distances of r ) 0.40(( 0.05) nm. The vanadium dimer assembly catalyst exhibited
96% conversion, 100% selectivity to BINOL, and 90% enantioselectivity for the asymmetric oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol,whereas the vanadium precursors themselves were not active
for the reaction. The increase in the vanadium loading caused
a dramatic increase in the enantioselectivity, up to 90% ee. The
supported vanadium catalysts were reusable in toluene. Less
acidic and amphoteric oxides, such as Al2O3 and TiO2, were
not suitable supports for the vanadium precursors, because they
exhibited much lower selectivities (0%-53%) without enantioselectivity (0%). To our knowledge, the vanadium dimer on
SiO2 is the first heterogeneous catalyst for the asymmetricoxidative coupling of 2-naphthol.
Acknowledgment. The XAFS measurements were performed with the approval of the Photon Factory Advisory
Committee (PAC) (No. 2004G080). This study was performed
with the support of the 21st Century COE Program by the
Ministry of Education, Cultures, Sports, Science, and Technology.
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