Unraveling the role of internal-external metal substitution in Zn[Co(CN)] for the styrene oxide-CO cycloaddition reaction.

We investigated the influence of the structural and textural properties along with the chemical environment of pure Zn[Co(CN)] in comparison with the modified phases on the catalytic performance in the cycloaddition reaction between styrene oxide and CO. We relate these to the proposed reaction pathways and mechanisms. The natural cubic phase (ZnCoCn) was dehydrated to obtain the rhombohedral phase (ZnCoRn), while the stabilized cubic phase (ZnCoCs) was synthesized by substituting external zinc atoms with cadmium atoms.