Preparation Of Helical Mesoporous Organic-inorganic Hybrid Silica Nanorods

Chrial and helical structures exist everywhere in nature. Design and synthesis of chiral molecules is a hot subject in current research. Herein, mesoporous organic silica materials were prepared through sol-gel methods using bis(triethoxysilyl)benzene (BTEB) as precursors. One part, helical periodic mesoporous 1,4-phenylene-silica nanorods with chiral crystalline walls and huge specific surface area were prepared using the self-assemblies of a pair of enanotiomers, L- and D-18Ala11NEt3Br as templates. Compared with nanofiber, the length of nanorod is moderate, it does not jam in applied in drug controlled release and separation. Another, a series of chiral amphiphiles with different carbon number of the central alkylene segments were synthesized. Their gelation behaviours and the circular dichroism spectra were studied. Mesoporous silica and organic-inorganic hybrid silica nanorod and nanofiber were prepared using the self-assemblies of chiral amphiphiles as the templates under basic conditions. They were characterized using SEM, TEM, XRD and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. It should be suitable for application in chiral catalysis, separation and optics.