Synthesis, characterization and optical properties of ordered macroporous organosilicasElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: experimental details for materials preparation and characterizations, TGA curves and FTIR spectra. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/b4/b403922j/

Preparation of periodic mesoporous organosilica with large mesopores using silica colloidal crystals as templates

Organosiloxane-based mesoporous materials with periodically ordered pores (periodic mesoporous organosilica, PMO) have many applications due to their various organic functions, high surface areas, and large pore volumes. Conventional methods using surfactant templates (soft templates) are limited in terms of the diversity of organosilane precursors and precise control over the pore size in a relatively large mesopore region (10-50 nm). This paper demonstrates the preparation of PMOs with precisely controlled pore sizes (>10 nm in diameter) and various organosiloxane frameworks, using colloidal crystals of monodisperse silica nanospheres as a template. An inverse opal structure with interconnected spherical mesopores was obtained through polycondensation of hydrolyzed organoalkoxysilanes [(EtO)₃Si-R-Si(OEt)₃, R = C₂H₄, CH[double bond, length as m-dash]CH, and C₆H₄; PhSi(OEt)₃], within the voids of silica colloidal crystals, followed by the preferential dissolution of silica under well-controlled basic conditions. The pore size varied depending on the size of the silica nanospheres. The versatility of this method will allow for the wide tuning of the physical and chemical properties of organosiloxane-based mesoporous materials.

Crystal Structure of an Ethylene Sorption Complex of Fully Vacuum-Dehydrated Fully Ag+-Exchanged Zeolite X (FAU). Silver Atoms Have Reduced Ethylene To Give CH22- Carbanions at Framework Oxide Vacancies

The crystal structure of an ethylene sorption complex of fully vacuum-dehydrated fully Ag(+)-exchanged zeolite X (FAU), a = 24.865(2) A, has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques in the cubic space group Fd at 21 degrees C. It is very different from the ethylene complex of Ag(92)-X that had been dehydrated at 400 degrees C in flowing oxygen, as were the two dehydrated structures. The crystal was prepared by ion exchange in a flowing stream of aqueous 0.05 M AgNO(3) for 3 days, followed by dehydration at 400 degrees C and 2 x 10(-6) Torr for 2 days, followed by exposure to 300 Torr of zeolitically dry ethylene gas for 2 h at 21 degrees C. The structure was determined in this atmosphere and was refined using all data to the final error indices (based upon the 534 reflections for which F(o) > 4sigma(F(o))) R(1) = 0.062 and wR(2) = 0.135. In this structure, per unit cell, 14 Ag(+) ions were found at the octahedral site I (Ag-O = 2.611(9) A), and 32 partially reduced Ag(+) ions fill two different site I' positions deep in the sodalite cavities (Ag-O = 2.601(13) and 2.618(12) A). The sodalite cavities host two different cationic silver clusters. In about 47% of sodalite units, eight silver atoms form interpenetrating tetrahedra, Ag(8)(n+) (n = 4 is suggested), with T(d)() symmetry. The other 53% of the sodalite units host cyclo-Ag(4)(m+) (m = 2 is suggested) cations with near S(4) symmetry. These clusters are very similar to those in vacuum-dehydrated Ag(92)-X. Thirty-two Ag(+) ions fill the single 6-rings, 15 at site II' (Ag-O = 2.492(10) A), and 17 at site II (Ag-O = 2.460(9) A). The latter 17 lie in supercages where each forms a lateral pi-complex with an ethylene molecule. In turn, each C(2)H(4) molecule forms two cis electrostatic hydrogen bonds to framework oxygens. The remaining 14 Ag+ ions occupy three different II' sites. Vacuum dehydration had caused substantial decomposition: per unit cell, 30 of the 92 Ag(+) ions were reduced and 15 of the 384 framework oxide ions were oxidized to O2(g), leaving lattice vacancies. The sorption of C(2)H(4) at 21 degrees C reoxidized about 7 of the 30 Ag(0) atoms to Ag(+) and reduced 1.75 ethylene molecules to give CH(2)(2-) groups which refilled 3.5 of these 15 lattice vacancies. The remaining vacancies may have been filled with H(2)C=C(2-) ions. The unit cell formula, which originally contained 384 oxygen atoms, may be |Ag(92)(C2H4)17|[Si(100)Al(92)O(369)(CH2)3.5] or |Ag(92)H(23)(C2H4)17|[Si(100)Al(92)O(369)(CH2)3.5(C2H2)11.5].