Solid acids for green chemistry.

Solid acids and especially those based on micelle-templated silicas and other mesoporous high surface area support materials are beginning to play a significant role in the greening of fine and specialty chemicals manufacturing processes. A wide range of important organic reactions can be efficiently catalyzed by these materials, which can be designed to provide different types of acidity as well as high degrees of reaction selectivity. The solid acids generally have high turnover numbers and can be easily separated from the organic components. The combination of this chemistry with innovative reaction engineering offers exciting opportunities for innovative green chemical manufacturing in the future.