Mesoporöse organisch-anorganische Hybridmaterialien auf Silicabasis

Salen-decorated Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica: From Metal-assisted Epoxidation to Metal-free CO2 Insertion

We clicked a salen ligand onto a thiol-ethane bridged periodic mesoporous organosilica (Salen-PMO) using a photo-initiated thiol-ene click reaction. This process resulted in a covalently bonded salen ligand on the PMO material. The final BET surface area amounts 511 m² /g and the pore size diameter is approximately 7 nm. The functionalized PMO material showed an excellent carbon dioxide uptake capacity of 1.29 mmol/g at 273 K and 1 bar. More importantly, by coordinating a MoO₂ ²⁺ complex onto the Salen-PMO material, we obtained a heterogeneous catalyst with a good catalytic performance for the epoxidation of cyclohexene. The catalyst was highly reusable, as no decrease in its activity was observed for at least four runs (99% conversion). Finally, the metal-free Salen-PMO showed an exceptional catalytic performance in the cycloaddition of CO₂ to epoxides. The obtained results clearly demonstrate the versatility of the Salen-PMO material not only as metal-free catalyst but also as a support material to anchor metal complexes for specific catalytic applications. With the same catalytic platform, we were able to firstly create epoxides out of alkenes, and subsequently turn these epoxides into cyclic carbonates, consuming CO₂ .

Recyclable Transition Metal Catalysis using Bipyridine-Functionalized SBA-15 by Co-condensation of Methallylsilane with TEOS

Well-defined recyclable Pd- and Rh-bipyridyl group-impregnated SBA-15 catalysts were prepared for C-C bond coupling reaction and selective hydrogenation reactions, respectively. These SBA-15 derived ligands for the catalysts were prepared by direct and indirect co-condensation method using bipyridyl-linked methallylsilane. This indirect method, involving methoxysilane generated from methallylsilane shows higher loading efficiency of transition metal catalysts on SBA-15 than the direct use of methallylsilane.

Copolymerization of Mesoporous Styrene-Bridged Organosilica Nanoparticles with Functional Monomers for the Stimuli-Responsive Remediation of Water

For every mass product, there are problems associated with the resulting waste. Residues of hormones in urine cannot be removed sufficiently from wastewater, and this has undesired consequences. An ideal adsorbent would take up the impurity, enable a simple separation and recyclability. Polymer colloids with high affinity towards the drug, accessible porosity, high surface area, and stimuli-responsive properties would be candidates, but such a complex system does not exist. Here, porous vinyl-functionalized organosilica nanoparticles prepared from a styrene bridged sol-gel precursor act as monomers. Initiation of the polymerization at the pore walls and addition of functional monomers result in a special copolymer, which is covalently linked to the surface and covers it. An orthogonal modification of external surface was done by click attachment of a thermoresponsive polymer. The final core-shell system is able to remove quantitatively hydrophobic molecules such as the hormone progesterone from water. A change of temperature closes the pores and induces the aggregation of the particles. After separation one can reopen the particles and recycle them.

Transition from 2D to 3D SBA-15 by High-Temperature Fluoride Addition and its Impact on the Surface Reactivity Probed by Isopropanol Conversion

A systematic variation of the SBA-15 synthesis conditions and their impact on the structural and chemical characteristics are reported. An incremental alteration of the hydrothermal aging temperature and time was used to induce changes of the highly ordered SBA-15 structure. Any effects on the total surface area, mesopores size, micropore contributions, and pore connectivity are amplified by a combined incremental increase of the NH4 F concentration. Based on changes of the unit-cell parameter as a function of the mesopore size, and a feature in the low-angle XRD pattern, useful descriptors for the disorder of the corresponding SBA-15 are identified. An additional analysis of the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and pore size distributions enables investigations of the structural integrity of the material. This systematic approach allows the identification of coherencies between the evolution of physical SBA-15 properties. The obtained correlations of the surface and structural characteristics allow the discrimination between highly ordered 2D SBA-15, disordered 3D SBA-15, and highly nonuniform silica fractions with mainly amorphous character. The fluoride-induced disintegration of the silica structure under hydrothermal conditions was also verified by TEM. A direct influence of the structural adaption on the chemical properties of the surface was demonstrated by isopropanol conversion and H/D exchange monitored by FTIR analysis as sensitive probes for acid and redox active surface sites.

Structural Changes of Hierarchically Nanoporous Organosilica/Silica Hybrid Materials by Pseudomorphic Transformation

Herein, it is reported how pseudomorphic transformation of divinylbenzene (DVB)-bridged organosilica@controlled pore glasses (CPG) offers the possibility to generate hierarchically porous organosilica/silica hybrid materials. CPG is utilized to provide granular shape/size and macroporosity and the macropores of the CPG is impregnated with organosilica phase, forming hybrid system. By subsequent pseudomorphic transformation, an ordered mesopore phase is generated while maintaining the granular shape and macroporosity of the CPG. Surface areas and mesopore sizes in the hierarchical structure are tunable by the choice of the surfactant and transformation time. Two-dimensional magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy demonstrated that micellar-templating affects both organosilica and silica phases and pseudomorphic transformation induces phase transition. A double-layer structure of separate organosilica and silica layers is established for the impregnated material, while a single monophase consisting of randomly distributed T and Q silicon species at the molecular level is identified for the pseudomorphic transformed materials.

A Seedless Method for Gold Nanoparticle Growth inside a Silica Matrix: Fabrication of Materials Capable of Third-Harmonic Generation in the Near-Infrared

A composite in which gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) approximately 10 nm in size are embedded in amorphous transparent silica matrix has been produced. The synthetic protocol uses HAuCl₄ as the Au ion source, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as the SiO₂ precursor, and l-ascorbic acid (AA) as the reducing agent. AA is employed before the sol-gel process in an amount sufficient only for reduction of Au³⁺ ions to Au⁺ . By using a cationic surfactant, benzylcetyldimethylammonium chloride hydrate (BDAC) and/or cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), the Au⁺ ions are encapsulated within metalomicelles, which prevents them from being reduced to Au⁰ and enables their homogeneous distribution in the gel. Reduction of Au⁺ to Au⁰ and the growth of the AuNPs occurs at room temperature during the gelation, and arises from the release of EtOH during the hydrolysis of TEOS. The composites contain 0.027 wt % of Au. They exhibit nonlinear optical behavior characterized by the third-order nonlinear refraction index, n₂ , in the range 3.6-5.7×10^-16  cm²  W^-1 at λ=1.030 μm. The composites are capable of effective third-harmonic generation of ultrashort near-IR (210 fs, 1.030 μm) laser pulse through a direct third-order mechanism.

Functionalized Silicas for Metal-Free and Metal-Based Catalytic Applications: A Review in Perspective of Green Chemistry

Heterogeneous catalysis plays a key role in promoting green chemistry through many routes. The functionalizable reactive silanols highlight silica as a beguiling support for the preparation of heterogeneous catalysts. Metal active sites anchored on functionalized silica (FS) usually demonstrate the better dispersion and stability due to their firm chemical interaction with FSs. Having certain functional groups in structure, FSs can act as the useful catalysts for few organic reactions even without the need of metal active sites which are termed as the covetous reusable organocatalysts. Magnetic FSs have laid the platform where the effortless recovery of catalysts is realized just using an external magnet, resulting in the simplified reaction procedure. Using FSs of multiple functional groups, we can envisage the shortened reaction pathway and, reduced chemical uses and chemical wastes. Unstable bio-molecules like enzymes have been stabilized when they get chemically anchored on FSs. The resultant solid bio-catalysts exhibited very good reusability in many catalytic reactions. Getting provoked from the green chemistry aspects and benefits of FS-based catalysts, we confer the recent literature and progress focusing on the significance of FSs in heterogeneous catalysis. This review covers the preparative methods, types and catalytic applications of FSs. A special emphasis is given to the metal-free FS catalysts, multiple FS-based catalysts and magnetic FSs. Through this review, we presume that the contribution of FSs to green chemistry can be well understood. The future perspective of FSs and the improvements still required for implementing FS-based catalysts in practical applications have been narrated at the end of this review.

Independent Tailoring of Macropore and Mesopore Space in TiO2 Monoliths

TiO₂ monoliths were synthesized by a partially hindered sol-gel process. Various synthesis parameters like precursor concentrations and gelation temperature were varied to investigate changes in the macroporosity (being in the range of micrometers) and to determine influences on the macropore formation mechanism. Ionic liquids (ILs) were used as templates to vary the mesopore size independently from the macropore size. Depending on the synthesis parameters, TiO₂ monoliths with exclusive mesoporosity or with hierarchical meso-/macropore structure were received, and the range of macropores can be shifted between 100 nm and 10 μm without influencing the mesopore diameter. Pore volumes up to 880 mm³/g were achieved, as determined by mercury intrusion porosimetry. The mesopores' diameter can be adjusted between 6 and 25 nm by adding different amounts of IL, and surface areas up to 260 m²/g and mesopore volumes of 0.5 cm³/g were obtained, based on N₂-physisorption measurements. The monoliths were cladded by polymer, allowing for studying the flow-through properties depending on the macropore size. This precise control for tailored macropores enables the design of optimized TiO₂ monoliths with respect to the desired application requirements.

Direct Dehydrogenative Coupling of Alcohols with Hydrosilanes Promoted by Sodium tri(sec-butyl)borohydride

Alkoxysilanes find application in many areas of chemistry ranging from research-scale organic synthesis to multi-ton production of materials. Classically, they are obtained in stoichiometric reaction of alcoholysis of chlorosilanes, however, recent years brought development in the field of direct dehydrogenative coupling of hydrosilanes with alcohols, which is a more atom-economic and benign alternative to the former process. In this paper, we report the use of sodium tri(sec-butyl)borohydride as a convenient promoter of this reaction. Exemplary syntheses carried out under mild conditions and without additional solvents, followed by very easy work-up procedure, show excellent potential for application of so devised catalytic system.

Biofunctionalization of Nano Channels by Direct In-Pore Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis

Diatom biosilica are highly complex inorganic/organic hybrid materials. To get deeper insights on their structure at a molecular level, model systems that mimic the complex natural compounds were synthesized and characterized. A simple and efficient peptide immobilization strategy was developed, which uses a well-ordered porous silica material as a support and commercially available Fmoc-amino acids, similar to the known solid-phase peptide synthesis. As an example, Fmoc-glycine and Fmoc-phenylalanine are immobilized on the silica support. The success of functionalization was investigated by ¹³ C CP MAS and ²⁹ Si CP MAS solid-state NMR. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and elemental analysis (EA) were performed to quantify the functionalization. Changes of the specific surface area, pore volume, and pore diameters in all modification steps were studied by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller based nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements (BET). The combination of the analytical methods provided high grafting densities of 2.1±0.2 molecules/nm² on the surface. Furthermore, they allowed for monitoring chemical changes on the pore surface and changes of the pore properties of the material during the different functionalization steps. This universal approach is suitable for the selective synthesis of pores with tunable surface-peptide functionalization, with applications to the synthesis of a big variety of silica-peptide model systems, which in the future may lead to a deeper understanding of complex biological systems.

Recent Advances in the Separation of Rare Earth Elements Using Mesoporous Hybrid Materials

Over the past decades, the need for rare earth elements (REEs) has increased substantially, mostly because these elements are used as valuable additives in advanced technologies. However, the difference in ionic radius between neighboring REEs is small, which renders an efficient sized-based separation extremely challenging. Among different types of extraction methods, solid-phase extraction (SPE) is a promising candidate, featuring high enrichment factor, rapid adsorption kinetics, reduced solvent consumption and minimized waste generation. The great challenge remains yet to develop highly efficient and selective adsorbents for this process. In this regard, ordered mesoporous materials (OMMs) possess high specific surface area, tunable pore size, large pore volume, as well as stable and interconnected frameworks with active pore surfaces for functionalization. Such features meet the requirements for enhanced adsorbents, not only providing huge reactional interface and large surface capable of accommodating guest species, but also enabling the possibility of ion-specific binding for enrichment and separation purposes. This short personal account summarizes some of the recent advances in the use of porous hybrid materials as selective sorbents for REE separation and purification, with particular attention devoted to ordered mesoporous silica and carbon-based sorbents.

Charge Separation in a Multifunctionalized Framework of Hydrogen-Bonded Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica

Integration of functional molecular parts into nanoporous materials in a state that allows intermolecular charge or energy transfer is one of the key approaches to the development of photofunctional and electroactive materials. Herein, we report charge separation in a functionalized framework of a periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) self-assembled by hydrogen bonds. Electroactive π-conjugated organic species with different electron-donating and electron-accepting properties were selectively fixed onto the external surface of a nanoparticulate PMO, within the pore wall, and onto the surface of the internal mesopore. UV irradiation of the modified PMO resulted in photoinduced electron transfer and charge separation from the external surface to the pore wall and from the pore wall to the surface of the internal mesopores. These results suggest the high potential of multifunctionalized PMOs in the construction of photocatalytic reaction fields.

Supramolecular Organization in Confined Nanospaces

Empty spaces are abhorred by nature, which immediately rushes in to fill the void. Humans have learnt pretty well how to make ordered empty nanocontainers, and to get useful products out of them. When such an order is imparted to molecules, new properties may appear, often yielding advanced applications. This review illustrates how the organized void space inherently present in various materials: zeolites, clathrates, mesoporous silica/organosilica, and metal organic frameworks (MOF), for example, can be exploited to create confined, organized, and self-assembled supramolecular structures of low dimensionality. Features of the confining matrices relevant to organization are presented with special focus on molecular-level aspects. Selected examples of confined supramolecular assemblies - from small molecules to quantum dots or luminescent species - are aimed to show the complexity and potential of this approach. Natural confinement (minerals) and hyperconfinement (high pressure) provide further opportunities to understand and master the atomistic-level interactions governing supramolecular organization under nanospace restrictions.

Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Materials: Multi-Functional Solids for Multi-Step Reaction Processes

The design of new hybrid materials with tailored properties at the nano-, meso-, and macro-scale, with the use of structural functional nanobuilding units, is carried out to obtain specific multi-functional materials. Organization into controlled 1D, 2D, and 3D architectures with selected functionalities is key for developing advanced catalysts, but this is hardly accomplished using conventional synthesis procedures. The use of pre-formed nanostructures, derived either from known materials or made with specific innovative synthetic methodologies, has enormous potential in the generation of multi-site catalytic materials for one-pot processes. The present concept article introduces a new archetype wherein self-assembled nanostructured builder units are the base for the design of multifunctional catalysts, which combine catalytic efficiency with fast reactant and product diffusion. The article addresses a new generation of versatile hybrid organic-inorganic multi-site catalytic materials for their use in the production of (chiral) high-added-value products within the scope of chemicals and fine chemicals production. The use of those multi-reactive solids for more nanotechnological applications, such as sensors, due to the inclusion of electron donor-acceptor structural arrays is also considered, together with the adsorption-desorption capacities due to the combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic sub-domains. The innovative structured hybrid materials for multipurpose processes here considered, can allow the development of multi-stage one-pot reactions with industrial applications, using the materials as one nanoreactor systems, favoring more sustainable production pathways with economic, environmental and energetic advantages.

Hydrogenolysis of C-O Chemical Bonds of Broad Scope Mediated by a New Spherical Sol-Gel Catalyst

The new spherical sol-gel hybrid material SiliaCat Pd0 selectively mediates the hydrogenolysis of aromatic alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones by using an ultralow catalytic amount (0.1 mol % Pd) under mild reaction conditions. The broad reaction scope as well as the catalyst's superior activity and pronounced stability open the route to green and convenient reductive deoxygenation processes of primary synthetic relevance in chemical research as well as in the fine chemical and petrochemical industries.

Dehydrogenative Coupling of Hydrosilanes and Alcohols by Alkali Metal Catalysts for Facile Synthesis of Silyl Ethers

Cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) of hydrosilanes with hydroxyl groups, using alkali metal hexamethyldisilazide as a single-component catalyst for the formation of Si–O bonds under mild condition, is reported. The potassium salt [KN(SiMe3)2] is highly efficient and chemoselective for a wide range of functionalized alcohols (99 % conversion) under solvent-free conditions. The CDC reaction of alcohols with silanes exhibits first-order kinetics with respect to both catalyst and substrate concentrations. The most plausible mechanism for this reaction suggests that the initial step most likely involves the formation of an alkoxide followed by the formation of metal hydride as active species.

Diacetylene-Bridged Periodic Mesoporous Organosilicas with Aggregates: Synthesis and Charge/Energy-Transfer Properties

Diacetylene-bridged periodic mesoporous organosilicas (DAPMOs) with aggregates were synthesized and characterized. The DAPMO-based donor-acceptor charge-transfer (CT) system was prepared under ambient conditions, in which the diacetylenic groups in the pore walls were the electron donors and the decylviologen molecules acted as electron acceptors in the pore channels. The UV/Vis diffuse reflectance spectra and soft X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy showed the formation of the CT complex. Importantly, energy transfer from the diacetylene aggregates to the CT complex occurred upon excitation at 330 nm, which was demonstrated by the fluorescence spectra of the CT systems. This design of hybrid organic-inorganic materials based on PMOs is promising to construct effective electron and energy transfer systems to fabricate optoelectronic materials.