Selective Functionalization of Hollow Nanospheres with Acid and Base Groups for Cascade Reactions

The inner-surface functionalization of hollow silica spheres has rarely been reported and is still a challenging topic. Herein, we report a deacetalization-Henry cascade reaction catalyzed by dual-functionalized mesoporous silica hollow nanospheres with basic amine groups (-NH2) on the internal shell and carboxylic acid groups (-COOH) on the external shell. The selective functionalization has been realized by a combination of step-by-step post-grafting and cationic surfactant-assisted selective etching strategy. Compared to unisolated catalyst, the selectively isolated acidic and basic dual catalyst provides excellent catalytic performance for the deacetalization-Henry cascade reaction in terms of both activity (>99%) and selectivity (95 %).