Direct Synthesis of a Photoactive Inorganic–Organic Mesostructured Hybrid Material and its Application as a Photocatalyst

✍ Scribed by Avelino Corma; Maria T. Navarro; Fernando Rey; Violeta R. Ruiz; Maria J. Sabater

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 261 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1439-4235
• DOI: 10.1002/cphc.200800724

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A direct route: Silylated triphenylmethanol is incorporated into mesoporous material MCM‐41 through a direct synthesis method. Under acidic conditions, this inorganic–organic hybrid generates trityl cations to give the photoactive material Tyl‐MCM41. Tyl‐MCM41 promotes the photosensitized dimerization of 1,3‐cyclohexadiene with an unprecedented selectivity towards the formation of the exo product (see scheme).magnified image

A photoactive, hexagonally structured mesoporous material (Tyl‐MCM41) is produced through co‐hydrolysis of SiO~2~ and a trialkoxysilane‐functionalized trityl cation as photoactive species. The formation of the corresponding triphenylmethanol precursor in the material is confirmed by spectroscopic techniques. The hybrid material has an ordered structure with a narrow pore size distribution typical of ordered mesoporous MCM‐41‐type materials. The triarylcarbinol molecules incorporated into this hybrid structure (Triphol‐MCM41) generate trityl cations under acidic conditions, which are photoactive and able to promote the photosensitized dimerization of 1,3‐cyclohexadiene in a heterogeneous solid–liquid system. The material is stable and can be recycled without loss of the photochemical activity.