Periodic mesoporous organosilicas with organic groups inside the channel walls

TLDR: In this article, a periodic mesoporous organosilica containing bridge-bonded ethene groups directly integrated into the silica framework is described, which is able to solvent-extract and ion-exchange the surfactant templates to create a stable and periodic mesophorous ethenesilica.

Abstract: Surfactant-mediated synthesis methods have attracted much interest for the production of inorganic mesoporous materials, which can, on removal of the surfactant template, incorporate polymeric, organic, inorganic and organometallic guests' in their pores 1,2 . These materials-initially made of silica 3-5 , but now also available in the form of other oxides 6-9 , sulphides 10,11 , phosphates 12 and metals 13 -could find application in fields ranging from catalysis, adsorption and sensing technology to nanoelectronics. The extension of surfactant-mediated synthesis to produce inorganic-organic hybrid material (that is, materials that contain organic groups as an integral part of their framework structure) promises access to an even wider range of application possibilities. Such hybrid materials have been produced in the form of amorphous silicates (xerogels) that indeed display unique properties different to those of the individual components 14-20 , but their random networks with broad pore-size distributions severely limit the shape and size selectivity of these materials. Mesoporous hybrid materials with periodic frameworks have been synthesized, but the organic groups are all terminally bonded to the pore surface, rather than incorporated into the pore walls 21-26 . Here we describe a periodic mesoporous organosilica containing bridge-bonded ethene groups directly integrated into the silica framework. We are able to solvent-extract and ion-exchange the surfactant templates to create a stable and periodic mesoporous ethenesilica with high surface area and ethene groups that are readily accessible for chemical reaction. Recent syntheses of similar periodic mesoporous organosilicas 27,28 and the ability to incorporate a variety of bridging organic and organometallic species raise the prospect of being able to fuse organic synthesis and inorganic materials chemistry to generate new materials with interesting chemical, mechanical electronic, optical and magnetic properties.