Investigadores de la\u00a0Universidad Metropolitana de Tokio,\u00a0descubrieron que las\u00a0nanopart\u00edculas de oro\u00a0apoyadas en una superficie de\u00a0\u00f3xido de circonio\u00a0ayudan a convertir materiales de desecho, como la biomasa y el poli\u00e9ster, en compuestos de\u00a0organosilano, sustancias qu\u00edmicas valiosas que se utilizan en una amplia gama de aplicaciones.La cantidad de\u00a0pl\u00e1stico\u00a0que se produce en el mundo cada a\u00f1o ha aumentado de 2 millones de toneladas en 1950 a m\u00e1s de 390 millones de toneladas en 2021, seg\u00fan datos de Plastic Soup Foundation<\/i>.<\/p>\n
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Since C(sp3<\/sup>)\u2013O bonds are a ubiquitous chemical motif in both natural and artificial organic molecules, the universal transformation of C(sp3<\/sup>)\u2013O bonds will be a key technology for achieving carbon neutrality. We report herein that gold nanoparticles supported on amphoteric metal oxides, namely, ZrO2<\/sub>, efficiently generated alkyl radicals via homolysis of unactivated C(sp3<\/sup>)\u2013O bonds, which consequently promoted C(sp3<\/sup>)\u2013Si bond formation to give diverse organosilicon compounds. A wide array of esters and ethers, which are either commercially available or easily synthesized from alcohols participated in the heterogeneous gold-catalyzed silylation by disilanes to give diverse alkyl-, allyl-, benzyl-, and allenyl silanes in high yields. In addition, this novel reaction technology for C(sp3<\/sup>)\u2013O bond transformation could be applied to the upcycling of polyesters, i.e., the degradation of polyesters and the synthesis of organosilanes were realized concurrently by the unique catalysis of supported gold nanoparticles. Mechanistic studies corroborated the notion that the generation of alkyl radicals is involved in C(sp3<\/sup>)\u2013Si coupling and the cooperation of gold and an acid\u2013base pair on ZrO2<\/sub>\u00a0is responsible for the homolysis of stable C(sp3<\/sup>)\u2013O bonds. The high reusability and air tolerance of the heterogeneous gold catalysts as well as a simple, scalable, and green reaction system enabled the practical synthesis of diverse organosilicon compounds.<\/p>\n