Multitasking mesoporous nanomaterials for biorefinery applications

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have attracted great interest for last two decades due to their unique and advantageous structural properties, such as high surface area, pore volume, stable mesostructure, tunable pore size and controllable particle morphology. The robust silica framework provides sites for organic modifications, making MSNs ideal platforms for adsorbents and supported organocatalysts. In addition, the pores of MSNs provide cavities/ channels for incorporation of metal and metal oxide nanoparticle catalysts. These supported metal nanoparticle catalysts benefit from confined local environments to enhance their activity and selectivity for various reactions. Biomass is considered as a sustainable feedstock with potential to replace diminishing fossil fuels for the production of biofuels. Among several strategies, one of the promising methods of biofuel production from biomass is to reduce the oxygen content of the feedstock in order to improve the energy density. This can be achieved by creating C-C bonds between biomass derived intermediates to increase the molecular weight of the final hydrocarbon molecules. In this context, pore size and organic functionality of MSNs are varied to obtain the ideal catalyst for a C-C bond forming reaction: the aldol condensation. The mechanistic aspects of this reaction in supported heterogeneous catalysts are explored. The modification of supported organocatalyst and the effect of solvent on the reaction are rationalized. The significance of two functional surfaces of MSNs is exploited by enzyme immobilization on the external surface and organo catalyst functionalization on the internal surface. Using this bifunctional catalyst, the tandem conversion of small chain alcohols into longer chain hydrocarbon molecules is demonstrated. The ability to incorporate metal and metal oxide nanoparticles in the pores and subsequent functionalization led to develop organic modified magnetic MSNs (OM-MSNs) for applications in microalgae biorefinery. Two different integrated biorefinery systems are highlighted. (i) OM-MSNs are used to harvest microalgae and selectively sequester free fatty acids (FFAs). (ii) OM-MSNs are shown to selectively sequester FFAs and convert them into diesel-range liquid hydrocarbon fuels. A similar MSN supported metal nanoparticle catalyst is demonstrated to transform FFAs into green diesel with even greater activity and selectivity. The incorporation of a different organic functional group into MSN provides a selective adsorbent for separation and purification of alpha-tocopherol from microalgae oil. The functional group with electron deficient aromatic rings demonstrated high sequestration capacity and selectivity of alpha-tocopherol

Heterogeneous Multicatalytic System for Single-Pot Oxidation and C–C Coupling Reaction Sequences

A system comprising two catalysts supported on mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) was employed to perform a sequence of two reactions in a single pot. Palladium nanoparticles catalyzed the oxidation of furfuryl alcohol with molecular oxygen at atmospheric pressure. The oxidation product, furfural, was then reacted with acetone via an aldol condensation catalyzed by amines supported on MSNs. Each reaction was first tested individually to establish optimal conditions. Both catalysts were then introduced into the same reactor under the proven conditions, and the entire reaction sequence was performed giving the desired product with high selectivity. The overall yield of the reaction sequence was highly dependent on the relative concentrations of the reactants in the mixture

Mesoporous Silica-Supported Amidozirconium-Catalyzed Carbonyl Hydroboration

The hydroboration of aldehydes and ketones using a silica-supported zirconium catalyst is reported. Reaction of Zr(NMe2)4 and mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) provides the catalytic material Zr(NMe2)n@MSN. Exhaustive characterization of Zr(NMe2)n@MSN with solid-state (SS)NMR and infrared spectroscopy, as well as through reactivity studies, suggests its surface structure is primarily ≡SiOZr(NMe2)3. The presence of these nitrogen-containing zirconium sites is supported by 15N NMR spectroscopy, including natural abundance 15N NMR measurements using dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) SSNMR. The Zr(NMe2)n@MSN material reacts with pinacolborane (HBpin) to provide Me2NBpin and the material ZrH/Bpin@MSN that is composed of interacting surface-bonded zirconium hydride and surface-bonded borane ≡SiOBpin moieties in an approximately 1:1 ratio, as well as zirconium sites coordinated by dimethylamine. The ZrH/Bpin@MSN is characterized by 1H/2H and 11B SSNMR and infrared spectroscopy and through its reactivity with D2. The zirconium hydride material or the zirconium amide precursor Zr(NMe2)n@MSN catalyzes the selective hydroboration of aldehydes and ketones with HBpin in the presence of functional groups that are often reduced under hydroboration conditions or are sensitive to metal hydrides, including olefins, alkynes, nitro groups, halides, and ethers. Remarkably, this catalytic material may be recycled without loss of activity at least eight times, and air-exposed materials are catalytically active. Thus, these supported zirconium centers are robust catalytic sites for carbonyl reduction and that surface-supported, catalytically reactive zirconium hydride may be generated from zirconium-amide or zirconium alkoxide sites

Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Loaded with Surfactant: Low Temperature Magic Angle Spinning 13C and 29Si NMR Enhanced by Dynamic Nuclear Polarization

We show that dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) can be used to enhance NMR signals of13C and 29Si nuclei located in mesoporous organic/inorganic hybrid materials, at several hundreds of nanometers from stable radicals (TOTAPOL) trapped in the surrounding frozen disordered water. The approach is demonstrated using mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN), functionalized with 3-(N-phenylureido)propyl (PUP) groups, filled with the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The DNP-enhanced proton magnetization is transported into the mesopores via 1H–1H spin diffusion and transferred to rare spins by cross-polarization, yielding signal enhancements εon/off of around 8. When the CTAB molecules are extracted, so that the radicals can enter the mesopores, the enhancements increase to εon/off ≈ 30 for both nuclei. A quantitative analysis of the signal enhancements in MSN with and without surfactant is based on a one-dimensional proton spin diffusion model. The effect of solvent deuteration is also investigated

Multitasking mesoporous nanomaterials for biorefinery applications

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have attracted great interest for last two decades due to their unique and advantageous structural properties, such as high surface area, pore volume, stable mesostructure, tunable pore size and controllable particle morphology. The robust silica framework provides sites for organic modifications, making MSNs ideal platforms for adsorbents and supported organocatalysts. In addition, the pores of MSNs provide cavities/ channels for incorporation of metal and metal oxide nanoparticle catalysts. These supported metal nanoparticle catalysts benefit from confined local environments to enhance their activity and selectivity for various reactions. Biomass is considered as a sustainable feedstock with potential to replace diminishing fossil fuels for the production of biofuels. Among several strategies, one of the promising methods of biofuel production from biomass is to reduce the oxygen content of the feedstock in order to improve the energy density. This can be achieved by creating C-C bonds between biomass derived intermediates to increase the molecular weight of the final hydrocarbon molecules. In this context, pore size and organic functionality of MSNs are varied to obtain the ideal catalyst for a C-C bond forming reaction: the aldol condensation. The mechanistic aspects of this reaction in supported heterogeneous catalysts are explored. The modification of supported organocatalyst and the effect of solvent on the reaction are rationalized. The significance of two functional surfaces of MSNs is exploited by enzyme immobilization on the external surface and organo catalyst functionalization on the internal surface. Using this bifunctional catalyst, the tandem conversion of small chain alcohols into longer chain hydrocarbon molecules is demonstrated. The ability to incorporate metal and metal oxide nanoparticles in the pores and subsequent functionalization led to develop organic modified magnetic MSNs (OM-MSNs) for applications in microalgae biorefinery. Two different integrated biorefinery systems are highlighted. (i) OM-MSNs are used to harvest microalgae and selectively sequester free fatty acids (FFAs). (ii) OM-MSNs are shown to selectively sequester FFAs and convert them into diesel-range liquid hydrocarbon fuels. A similar MSN supported metal nanoparticle catalyst is demonstrated to transform FFAs into green diesel with even greater activity and selectivity. The incorporation of a different organic functional group into MSN provides a selective adsorbent for separation and purification of alpha-tocopherol from microalgae oil. The functional group with electron deficient aromatic rings demonstrated high sequestration capacity and selectivity of alpha-tocopherol.</p

Reversible Ototoxicity: A Rare Adverse Reaction of Liposomal Amphotericin-B Used for the Treatment of Antimony-Resistant Visceral Leishmaniasis in an Elderly Male

Amphotericin-B, a broad spectrum antifungal agent, has been known to cause adverse effects such as nephrotoxicity and infusion-related side effects such as fever, chills, rigor, and arthralgias. However, ototoxicity as an adverse effect of Amphotericin-B has not yet been reported in medical literature. We here report a case of a reversible form of ototoxicity induced by liposomal Amphotericin-B (L-AmB)

Synergistic Interaction between Oxides of Copper and Iron for Production of Fatty Alcohols from Fatty Acids

The selective hydrogenation of fatty acids to fatty alcohols can be achieved under moderate conditions (180 °C, 30 bar H2) by simultaneously supporting copper and iron oxides on mesoporous silica nanoparticles. The activity of the cosupported oxides is significantly higher than that of each supported metal oxide and of a physical mixture of both individually supported metal oxides. A strong interaction between both metal oxides is evident from dispersion, XRD, TPR, and acetic acid TPD measurements, which is likely responsible for the synergistic behavior of the catalyst. Copper oxide is reduced in situ to its metallic form and thereby activates hydrogen. It is proposed that hydrogen spills over to iron oxide where fatty acids bind and are selectively reduced to the alcohol.Reprinted (adapted) with permission from ACS Catalysis 5 (2015): 6719, doi:10.1021/acscatal.5b01664. Copyright 2015 American Chemical Society.</p