New hybrid organic-inorganic multifunctional materials based on polydopamine-like chemistry

A simple one-pot procedure under mild conditions has been developed with the aim of preparing a set of hybrid organic-inorganic multifunctional materials. This procedure is based on the use of catechol and KIO4 as oxidizing agent in conjunction with 3-aminopropyl-, substituted 3-aminopropyl- and 3-methylimidazolium-1-trimethoxypropylsilane mimicking polydopamine-like chemistry. Reactions were carried out in water at room temperature and 70 °C to give fifteen materials that were characterised by using several techniques (nitrogen physisorption, TGA, XPS, 13C and 29Si CP-MAS NMR, IR, pHPZC). Knoevenagel reaction was chosen as a good probe to investigate the availability of functional groups on the surface of the materials. The most active catalytic materials were tested in recycling procedures. Such simple procedure is of broad interest for the scientific community and it open the doors to the development of new hybrid organic-inorganic multifunctional materials for several purposes.