Tuning the light absorption of a molecular vanadium oxide system for enhanced photooxidation performance.

A new mechanism for enhancing the visible light absorption of a homogeneous polyoxovanadate system is described. The photoactive pentanuclear {V(5)} isopolyoxovanadate cluster is formed in situ by a thermally-induced condensation reaction starting from a tetranuclear {V(4)} precursor. Upon irradiation with visible light, {V(5)} undergoes a light induced reduction reaction resulting in the formation of a 2-electron reduced {V(10)} cluster. Simultaneously, the oxidant methanol is selectively oxidized to formaldehyde. The {V(10)} cluster can subsequently be re-oxidized using H(2)O(2) or O(2).