Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
Bidentate ligands are potentially useful to modify metal alkoxides precursors for sol-gel processing. However, anionic bidentate ligands are needed to get a strong coordination, while diamines as neutral bidentate ligand form coordination polymers [Ti2(OR)8(diamine)2]∞ when reacted with Ti(OR)4. The Lewis acidity of metal alkoxides may cause organic side reactions. The first is the formation of ester and water in the reaction with carboxylic acids, and therefore carboxylate-substituted metal oxide clusters of the general composition MnOx(OH/OR)y(OOCR)z are obtained instead of substituted monomeric precursors. The second side reaction discussed is the cleavage of β-diketones by metal alkoxides. Despite this side reaction, 3-acetyl-6-trimethoxy-silyl-hexane-2-one is a useful compound to prepare single-source precursos for silica/metal oxide composites.