Mesoporous silica nanoparticles applied as a support for Pd and Au nanocatalysts in cycloisomerization reactions

Ultra-small mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have been synthesized at room temperature with particle sizes ranging from 28 to 45 nm. These MSNs have been employed as heterogeneous supports for palladium and gold nanocatalysts. The colloidal nature of the MSNs is highly useful for catalytic app...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Oscar Verho, Feifei Gao, Eric V. Johnston, Wei Wan, Anuja Nagendiran, Haoquan Zheng, Jan-Erling Bäckvall, Xiaodong Zou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2014-11-01
Series:APL Materials
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4901293
Description
Summary:Ultra-small mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have been synthesized at room temperature with particle sizes ranging from 28 to 45 nm. These MSNs have been employed as heterogeneous supports for palladium and gold nanocatalysts. The colloidal nature of the MSNs is highly useful for catalytic applications as it allows for better mass transfer properties and a more uniform distribution of the nanocatalysts in solution. The two nanocatalysts were evaluated in the cycloisomerization of alkynoic acids and demonstrated to produce the corresponding alkylidene lactones in good to excellent yields under mild conditions. In addition to their high activity, the catalysts exhibit low degree of metal leaching and straight-forward recycling, which highlight the practical utility of MSNs as supports for nanocatalysts.
ISSN:2166-532X