Acid-functionalized nanoparticle catalyst and catalyzed reactions using the same

Abstract

Superparmagnetic acid-functionalized nanoparticle catalysts are provided along with methods of using the same to protonate an oxygen atom of a carbon-oxygen bond. Particularly, the catalysts comprise a nanoparticle having a ferromagentic core surrounded by a metal oxide shell. The nanoparticle is at least partially coated with an acid-functionalized siloxane compound. The acid-functionalized nanoparticles may be used to catalyze any number of reactions that can be catalyzed in the presence of protons. The ferromagnetic core permits the nanoparticle catalyst material to be separated from the reaction medium through application of a magnetic field and reused.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.