Key evidence associating hydrophobicity with effective acid catalysis

(Tokyo Metropolitan University) Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have shown that the tunable hydrophobic nature of dense siloxane gels is strongly correlated with their catalytic activity, explicitly demonstrating how molecules with different hydrophobic nature at the molecular level interact differently with surfaces of differing hydrophobicity. This is also the first time a siloxane gel has been shown to be highly effective for the reaction of silyl ethers, commonly used as a protecting agent.

from EurekAlert! - Technology, Engineering and Computer Science https://ift.tt/2TsOFrU