Microwave assisted N-alkylation of amine functionalized crystal-like mesoporous phenylene-silica.

N-alkylation reaction of amine functionalized phenylene moieties in crystal-like mesoporous silica is successfully achieved with about 87% of conversion in two reaction cycles. A potassium iodide catalyzed method commonly used for the selective N-monoalkylation of aniline is adapted and optimized to the N-monoalkylation reactions of the amine functionalized periodic mesoporous phenylene-silica (NH2-PMO) under microwave irradiation with preservation of the ordered mesostructure and of the crystal-like molecular scale periodicity of the material. This functionalization opens an avenue for the preparation of new materials with different amino-alkyl groups specially designed for a desired application, namely on the adsorption or catalytic fields.