Acetylacetone functionalized periodic mesoporous organosilicas: from sensing to catalysis

Abstract

25 years after the first papers on the development of Periodic Mesoporous Organosilicas, and in this special issue in honor of prof. Ozin who stood at the cradle of PMOs, we here report for the first time an “acac-PMO” with the acac-functionality intact and embedded in the organic environment of the linker. Periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs) have emerged as versatile sensors due to their stability, low toxicity, and scalability. This study reports for the first time on embedding the acetylacetone (acac) group into the PMO backbone. This integration of acac into the PMO framework opens new applications in both sensing and catalysis. The Eu³⁺ grafted acac-PMOs demonstrate enhanced sensitivity, with a detection limit of 108 nM, and high selectivity in aqueous copper (Cu²⁺) ion sensing. Additionally, these novel PMOs show high catalytic efficiency in Mannich reactions.