Room-temperature methane activation by a bimetallic oxide cluster

Gas-phase room-temperature methane activation by various clusters draws increasing attention. In this Letter, we produce a series of bimetallic oxide clusters which contain both main-group metal aluminum atoms and transition-metal vanadium atoms. We provide solid experimental and theoretical evidence that bimetallic AlVO 4 + cluster can draw a hydrogen atom from methane to produce CH3 at room temperature. The Al 3 VO 7 + cluster which can be considered as a system formed from Al2O3 + AlVO 4 + does not break C–H bonds of methane. The results enrich the chemistry of gas phase methane activation and provide possible molecular level mechanism to couple with heterogeneous catalysis.