Applications of ionosilicas in heterogeneous catalysis: Opportunities for the elaboration of new functional catalytic phases

The elaboration of performant, selective and re-usable catalyst systems is still an area of intense research activity. Porous silica based materials inspired from Ionic Liquids have high potential in catalysis and recently initiated further developments in the area of silica supported catalytic phases. Here, we will illustrate various strategies for the elaboration of ionosilica derived heterogeneous catalysts. Three approaches for obtaining ionosilica derived heterogeneous catalysts will be described. We will show that catalytic ionosilicas can be obtained via anion exchange. These materials can further be used to access ionosilica supported metal nanoparticles. Finally, metal free ionosilicas are interesting heterogeneous organocatalysts. In summary, ionosilicas appear as highly versatile phases for the preparation of various types of heterogeneous catalysts that open interesting perspectives both in transition metal catalysis and organocatalysis.