Molybdenum and Tungsten Compounds in Oxidation Catalysis

Epoxides play an important role in the chemical industry. Many pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, intermediates and commodity products require at least one epoxidation reaction step. In this thesis, molybdenum and tungsten carbonyl compounds are examined towards their activity as precatalysts in the catalytic epoxidation of olefins. Among the catalysts examined are π,σ-coordinated molybdenum and tungsten ansa compounds, as well as binuclear, substituted cyclopentadienylmolybdenum compounds. The catalysts have been tested homogeneously in common organic solvents, as well as ionic liquids. Turn-over frequencies of up to 44000 1/h are obtained. Additionally, efforts have been made towards heterogenization, as well as the introduction of chirality into these compounds. Visualization of these compounds has been performed with a novel Augmented Reality based computer program.