Synergistic combination of multi-Zr(IV) cations and lacunary Keggin germanotungstates leading to a gigantic Zr24-cluster-substituted polyoxometalate.

Synergistic directing roles of six lacunary fragments resulted in an unprecedented Zr24-cluster substituted poly(polyoxotungstate) Na10K22[Zr24O22(OH)10(H2O)2(W2O10H)2(GeW9O34)4(GeW8O31)2]·85H2O (Na10K22·1·85H2O), which contains the largest [Zr24O22(OH)10(H2O)2] (Zr24) cluster in all the Zr-based poly(polyoxometalate)s to date. The most remarkable feature is that the centrosymmetric Zr24-cluster-based hexamer contains two symmetry-related [Zr12O11(OH)5(H2O)(W2O10H)(GeW9O34)2(GeW8O31)](16-) trimers via six μ3-oxo bridges and was simultaneously trapped by three types of different segments of B-α-GeW9O34, B-α-GeW8O31, and W2O10. The other interesting characteristic is that there are two pairs of intriguing triangular atom alignments: one is composed of the Zr(2,4,6,8,11) and W21 atoms and the other contains the Ge(1-3), Zr(3,5,7,9,10,12) and W26 atoms, and the Zr5 atom is inside the triangle; a linking mode is unobserved. The oxygenation reactions of thioethers by H2O2 were evaluated when Na10K22·1·85H2O served as a catalyst. Results show that it is an effective catalyst for oxygenation of thioethers by H2O2. The unique redox property of oxygen-enriched polyoxotungstate fragments and Lewis acidity of the Zr cluster imbedded in Na10K22·1·85H2O provide a sufficient driving force for the catalytic conversion from thioethers to sulfoxides/sulfones.