Thermal methane activation by a binary V-Nb transition-metal oxide cluster cation: a further example for the crucial role of oxygen-centered radicals

Abstract

The heteronuclear transition-metal oxide cluster activates methane: VNbO5(+) reacts with CH4 under ambient conditions via hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT), thus providing an interesting prototype example of room-temperature methane activation by a binary transition-metal oxide cluster.

Keywords: binary oxide cluster; density functional calculations; mass spectrometry; methane activation; radical ions.