Room-temperature methane activation by a bimetallic oxide cluster AlVO₄⁺

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 AlVO₄⁺ cluster can draw a hydrogen atom from methane to produce CH₃ at room temperature. The Al₃ VO₇⁺ cluster which can be considered as a system formed from Al₂O₃ +AlVO₄⁺ 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.