title: Direct synthesis of a photoactive inorganic-organic mesostructured hybrid material and its application as a photocatalyst.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Tecnología Química UPV-CSIC, Avenida Los Naranjos s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain. acorma@itq.upv.es
authors.forename: Avelino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corma
authors.forename: Maria T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rey
authors.forename: Violeta R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sabater