Abstract
Upon prolonged thermal exposure under vacuum, a well-defined single-site surface species [([triple bond, length as m-dash]Si-O-)Zr(NEt2)3] () evolves into an ethylimido complex [([triple bond, length as m-dash]Si-O-)Zr([double bond, length as m-dash]NEt)NEt2] (). Reactions of with an imine substrate result in imido/imine ([double bond, length as m-dash]NRi, R: Et, Ph) exchange (metathesis) with the formation of [([triple bond, length as m-dash]Si-O-)Zr([double bond, length as m-dash]NPh)NEt2] (). Compounds and effectively catalyze imine/imine cross-metathesis and are thus considered as the first heterogeneous catalysts active for imine metathesis.