Highly Mesoporous MoO Catalysts for Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution.

Herein, a straightforward synthesis method for highly mesoporous molybdenum oxide has been demonstrated via use of inverse micelles and molybdenum-oxo cluster formation. The synthesized catalyst is stable, crystalline, and MoO phase pure, as confirmed through thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Further results from electron paramagnetic resonance, Raman spectroscopy, and UV-vis spectroscopy confirm the MoO phase purity.