Synthesis, structure, and optical activity of HPM-1, a pure silica chiral zeolite

2-Ethyl-1,3,4-trimethylimidazolium is a poor organic structure-directing agent in the synthesis of pure silica zeolites using fluoride as a mineralizer at 150 °C. Under these conditions only ill-crystallized solids are obtained after long hydrothermal treatments (several weeks). It disappoints despite its relatively large size, conformational rigidity, and intermediate hydrophilic/hydrophobic character, attributes which would qualify it as a promising structure-directing agent, according to prior investigations. By raising the crystallization temperature to 175 °C under otherwise identical conditions, crystallization is dramatically accelerated. Depending on the water/silica ratio and crystallization time, two different materials are obtained: the recently reported pure silica polymorph of the chiral STW-type zeolite, HPM-1, and the new layered organosilicate, HPM-2. Prolonged heating transforms these phases into the small-pore ITW-type zeolite, while no signs of the SOF-type zeolite (formally built from the same layers as STW) was found. A complete physicochemical and structural characterization of the as-made chiral HPM-1 zeolite is provided, and the proposed stabilization of this zeolite by polarization of the Si-O bond is supported by the observed deviation from tetrahedrality. HPM-1 is optically active, and a study of several crystallites by Mueller matrix microscopy shows that their optical activity can be individually measured and that this technique could be useful for the assessment of the enantiomeric purity of a microcrystalline powder.