Synthesis and structural characterization of a new nanoporous-like Keggin heteropolyanion salt: K3(H2O)4[H2SiVW11O40](H2O)8+x.

Single crystals of the potassium salt K3(H2O)4[H2SiVW11O40](H2O)8+x of the vanadium monosubstituted alpha-Keggin dodecatunsgstosilicate were grown from an aqueous solution and analyzed by EDS, XRD, vibration and electronic spectroscopy, and 1H, 51V, and 29Si solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Results indicate the formation of a nanoporous-like compound of hexagonal symmetry (space group P62) with large, water-filled channels running along the c axis. A uniform distribution of vanadium over the 12 metal sites of the alpha-Keggin anion is observed by XRD. Two different neighborhoods were characterized by 51V NMR in a 2:1 ratio (deltaiso=-546.3 and -536.2 ppm), in accordance with a difference in the number of potassium ions in the second coordination shell of vanadium.