Gold(III) Mediated Activation and Transformation of Methane on Au1-Doped Vanadium Oxide Cluster Cations AuV2O6+

Gold in the +III oxidation state (Au-III) has been proposed as a promising species to mediate challenging chemical reactions. However, it is difficult to characterize the chemistry of individual Au-III species in condensed-phase systems mainly due to the interference from the Au-I counterpart. Herein, by doping Au atoms into gas-phase vanadium oxide clusters, we demonstrate that the Au-III cation in the AuV2O6+ cluster is active for activation and transformation of methane, the most stable alkane molecule, into formaldehyde under mild conditions. In contrast, the AuV2O6+ cluster isomers with the Au-I cation can only absorb CH4. The clusters were generated by laser ablation and mass selected to react with CH4, CD4, or CH2D2 in an ion trap reactor. The reactivity was characterized by mass spectrometry and quantum chemistry calculations. The structures of the reactant and product ions were identified by using collision-induced and 425 nm photo-induced dissociation techniques.