Metamorphic Channels in Periodic Mesoporous Methylenesilica

Abstract

Bridging methylene groups are transformed into terminal methyl groups when periodic mesoporous methylenesilicas, prepared for the first time by surfactant-templated synthesis, are subjected to controlled thermal treatment at 350–600°C. The methylene groups integrated “inside the channel walls” transform smoothly to methyl groups suspended “within the channel spaces” (shown schematically).