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Updated: May 13, 2026

Preparation of Silica Nanoparticles Through Microwave-assisted Acid-catalysis
Published on: December 16, 2013
Microwave assisted N-alkylation of amine functionalized crystal-like mesoporous phenylene-silica
Mirtha A O Lourenço1, Renée Siegel, Luís Mafra
1Department of Materials & Ceramics Engineering, CICECO, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Abstract:
N-alkylation reaction of amine functionalized phenylene moieties in crystal-like mesoporous silica is successfully achieved with about 87% of conversion in two reaction cycles. A potassium iodide catalyzed method commonly used for the selective N-monoalkylation of aniline is adapted and optimized to the N-monoalkylation reactions of the amine functionalized periodic mesoporous phenylene-silica (NH2-PMO) under microwave irradiation with preservation of the ordered mesostructure and of the crystal-like molecular scale periodicity of the material. This functionalization opens an avenue for the preparation of new materials with different amino-alkyl groups specially designed for a desired application, namely on the adsorption or catalytic fields.
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