Selectivity of dehydrogenative silicone–oxygen bond formation in diphenylsilane by base and base‐activated catalysts

Facile Synthesis of Ultra-Small Silver Nanoparticles Stabilized on Carbon Nanospheres for the Etherification of Silanes

The dehydrocoupling reaction between alcohols and hydrosilanes is considered to be one of the most atom-economical ways to produce Si-O coupling compounds because its byproduct is only hydrogen (H2), which make it extremely environmentally friendly. In past decades, various kinds of homogeneous catalysts for the dehydrocoupling of alcohols and hydrosilanes, such as transition metal complexes, alkaline earth metals, alkali metals, and noble metal complexes, have been reported for their good activity and selectivity. Nevertheless, the practical applications of these catalysts still remain unsatisfactory, which is mainly restricted by environmental impact and non-reusability. A facile and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst, ultra-small Ag nanoparticles supported on porous carbon (Ag/C) for the etherification of silanes, has been developed. It has high catalytic activity for the Si-O coupling reaction, and the apparent activation energy of the reaction is about 30 kJ/mol. The ultra-small Ag nanoparticles dispersed in the catalyst through the carrier C have an enrichment effect on all reactants, which makes the reactants reach the adsorption saturation state on the surface of Ag nanoparticles, thus accelerating the coupling reaction process and verifying that the kinetics of the reaction of the catalyst indicate a zero-grade reaction.

Formation of nanostructured silicas through the fluoride catalysed self-polymerization of Q-type functional silica cages

Octa(dimethylsiloxy)silica cages (Q₈M₈^H) undergo rapid self-polymerization in the presence of a fluoride catalyst to form complex 3D porous structural network materials with specific surface areas up to 650 m² g^-1. This establishes a new method to form bio-derived high inorganic content soft silicas with potential applications in filtration, carbon capture, catalysis, or hydrogen source.