Two novel telluroniobates with efficient catalytic activity for the imidation/amidation reaction

We present the synthesis and catalytic properties of two novel telluroniobates {Te15Nb21} and {Te10Nb14}. {Te15Nb21} is the first trimeric telluroniobate with the largest number of tellurium atoms in the Te–Nb system. Besides, both clusters exhibit excellent catalytic activity in the amidation reactions of anhydrides and amines, and cyclic imides and bi-amides can be controllably synthesized, which represents a breakthrough in the catalysis of polyoxoniobates.