The chemistry of polyoxometalates (POMs) keeps drawing the attention of researchers, since they constitute a family of discrete molecular entities whose features may be easily modulated. Often considered soluble molecular oxide analogues, POMs possess enormous potential due to a myriad of choices concerning size, shape and chemical composition that may be tailored in order to fine-tune their physico-chemical properties. Thanks to the recent progress in single-crystal X ray diffraction, new POMs exhibiting diverse and unexpected structures have been regularly reported and described. We find it relevant to systematically analyse the different equilibria that govern the formation of POMs, in order to be able to establish reliable synthesis protocols leading to new molecules. In this context, we have been able to synthesise the Eu3+-containing silico-molybdo-tungstic dimer, [Eu(α-SiW9Mo2O39)2]13−. We describe the synthesis and characterisation of this new species by several physico-chemical methods, such as single-crystal X-ray diffraction, 183W NMR and electrochemistry.
