Organosilica the conciliator

摘要

Acidic and basic molecules are antagonistic, and keeping them in their place is no easy job — unless, it seems, one unites them under the tutelage of ordered, nanoporous materials known as organosilicas. Silica (silicon dioxide, SiO_2) is the basic component of sand and quartz, and the most abundant compound in Earth's crust. It can also be synthesized as an amorphous solid with nanoscale pores and an accessible internal surface of up to 1,000 square metres per gram (ref. 1). Combining such a carefully designed porous silica framework with various organic molecules results in hybrid 'organosilica' materials that are capable of some impressive chemical feats. For instance, Johan Alauzun and colleagues describe in the Journal of the American Chemical Society how they fabricated a mesoporous organosilica that allows two mutually antagonistic molecular groups — one acidic, one basic — to coexist peacefully.