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Updated: May 28, 2026

Preparation of Functional Silica Using a Bioinspired Method
Published on: August 1, 2018
Magnetic silyl scaffold enables efficient recycling of protecting groups
Alexander Schaetz1, Martin Zeltner, Thomas D Michl
1Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
A novel organic/inorganic hybrid material comprising carboncoated cobalt nanoparticles and a poly(benzylchloride)styrene shell is the first magnetic support that complies with important requirements for immobilized reagents and scavengers, that is, stability under harsh conditions (e.g., acids), sufficient loading (up to 2 mmol g(-1)), and satisfying magnetization. The durability of the scaffold was demonstrated by immobilization of a trialkylsilane reagent, which served as a "magnetic" protecting group for a number of primary and secondary alcohols. Importantly, the scaffold could be efficiently separated, recycled, and reused after alcohol cleavage (HF·pyridine) via regeneration of the silyl chloride moiety with BCl(3).
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