The reaction of the dinuclear peroxotungstate, [(
n-C
4H
9)
4N]
2[{WO(O
2)
2}
2(
-O)] (
II), with H
2O
2 gives the novel
-
1:
1-peroxo-bridging dinuclear tungsten species, [(
n-C
4H
9)
4N]
2[{WO(O
2)
2}
2(
-O
2)] (
I), which has been characterizedby X-ray crystallography, elemental analysis, IR, Raman, UV-vis, and
183W NMR. Only
I is active for the epoxidationof cyclic, internal, and terminal olefins, whereas
II is inactive for each. The low
XSO (
XSO = (nucleophilic oxidation)/(total oxidation)) value of
I (0.18 ± 0.02) in comparison with that of
II (0.39 ± 0.01) for the stoichiometric oxidationof thianthrene 5-oxide, which is a mechanistic probe for determining the electronic character of an oxidant, revealsthat
I is more electrophilic than
II. On the basis of the kinetic and spectroscopic results, the catalytic epoxidationproceeds by the reaction of
I with an olefin to form
II and the corresponding epoxide followed by the regenerationof
I by the reaction of
II with H
2O
2.