Chiral Molecular Imprinting in Mesoporous Silica Films

The main goal of the proposed project is the synthesis of a new family of inorganic materials possessing a specific information of chirality, i.e. property that originally belongs to organic compounds. For such a transcription of chirality from an organic compound to inorganic mesoporous silica films I intend to use sol-gel processing of silicon precursors (alkoxysilanes) combined with chiral amphiphilic molecules. The chiral surfactant has a double function in this system. It acts as a template preforming the mesoporous structure of a silica film and it is a source of chirality that should be transferred to the silica, leaving a footprint on the pore walls of its mesoporous structure. The proposed surfactant molecules consist of a hydrophilic sugar head group and a hydrophobic alkyl or polysiloxane chain. Various commercial and self-synthesized surfactants and silicon precursors will be tested to get the target structure of the final material. Reaction and film processing conditions will be optimized to achieve the desired structure and functionality.