Amorphous silica having discrete voids and spatially organized functionalities formed therein
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorsAlexander Katz, Mark E. Davis
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Abstract
The present invention relates to amorphous inorganic materials having pores of controlled size and shape with one or more spatially organized functional groups formed therein. Much like the active site residues in an enzyme, these functional groups can be positioned in a defined three dimensional relationship within the voids and with respect to each other. By varying both the positions and identities of these functional groups, diverse sets of substrate specific adsorbents and non-biologically-based catalysts can be made.
Claims40
An inorganic oxide having micropores, wherein at least a portion of said micropores contains an organic group non-randomly positioned in a first of said micropores such that the position of said organic group relative to said first micropore is substantially similar to the position of an other of said organic group relative to a second micropore of said micropores;
- and wherein said organic group is covalently attached to the inorganic oxide.
An amorphous silica having a framework and discrete micropores, wherein at least a portion of said micropores includes a monomer covalently bonded to the framework, the monomer being non-randomly positioned in a first of said micropores such that the position of said monomer relative to said first micropore is substantially similar to the position of an other of said monomer relative to a second micropore, the monomer having the general formula
- wherein:
- X′ is a substituted or unsubstituted moiety;
- and
- R1 and R2 are independently each oxygen, or substituted or unsubstituted moiety;
- the moiety being selected from the group consisting of C1-C20 alkyl, C2-C20 alkenyl, C2-C20 alkynyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, cycloalkadienyl, aryl, and heteroaryl, each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from the group consisting of C1-C5 alkyl, C2-C5 alkenyl, C2-C5 alkynyl, allyl, aryl, heteroaryl, and a functional group.
An amorphous silica having a framework and discrete micropores, wherein at least a portion of said micropores includes a monomer covalently bonded to the framework, the monomer being non-randomly positioned in a first of said micropores such that the position of said monomer relative to said first micropore is substantially similar to the position of an other of said monomer relative to a second micropore, the monomer having the general formula
- wherein:
- X′ is selected from the group consisting of C1-C10 alkylamine, C2-C10 alkenylamine, C2-C10 alkynylamine, cycloalkylamine, phenylamine, benzylamine, naphthylamine, cycloalkylamine, phenylamine, benzylamine, naphthylamine, and anthracylamine, each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from the group consisting of C1-C5 alkyl, C2-C5 alkenyl, C2-C5 alkynyl, allyl, phenyl, and halide.
An imprinted silica gel comprising a framework and discrete micropores, the imprinted silica gel formed by
- copolymerizing a source of silica and an imprint compound of the formula
- Z—(Wn)n
- wherein:
- n is any positive integer;
- Z is selected from the group consisting of C3-C20 branched alkyl, C2-C20 alkenyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, aryl, and heteroaryl, and,
- W1 to Wn are each independently any moiety capable of being crosslinked to the silica gel;
- and wherein Z is covalently attached to (Wn)n;
- and
- removing a portion of the imprint compound from the crosslinked material.
A method of forming a micropore within a crosslinked material, comprising:
- copolymerizing a source of inorganic oxide with an imprint compound of the formula
- Z—Wn)n
- wherein:
- n is any positive integer;
- Z is selected from the group consisting of C3-C20 branched alkyl, C2-C20 alkenyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, aryl, and hetero aryl, and,
- W1 to Wn are each independently any moiety capable of being crosslinked to the material;
- and wherein Z is covalently attached to (Wn)n;
- and
- removing a portion of the imprint compound from the crosslinked material.
A process for introducing functional groups within a bulk silica, the process comprising:
- copolymerizing a source of silica with an imprint compound of the formula
- Z—(Wn)n
- wherein:
- n is any positive integer;
- Z is selected from the group consisting of C3-C20 branched alkyl, C2-C20 alkenyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, aryl, and hetero aryl, and,
- W1 to Wn are each independently any moiety capable of being crosslinked to the bulk silica;
- wherein Z is covalently attached to (Wn)n;
- and
- removing a portion of the imprint compound from the bulk silica to form a micropore, such that the removal of the imprint compound results in the bulk silica framework being substantially unchanged.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.