Communication
ChemComm
lithium contents and catalytic performance to Li-CD-3. Because active sites and great potential in various applications such as
each hydroxyl group is isolated on the rims of CD, the basic catalysis and adsorption.
sites, resulting from point-to-point molecular grafting, can be
dispersed at a molecular level in the obtained materials.
This work was supported by the Distinguished Youth Founda-
tion of Jiangsu Province (BK20130045), the Fok Ying-Tong Educa-
The introduction of inorganic precursors into porous supports tion Foundation (141069), the National High Technology Research
is a widely used method for the preparation of solid strong and Development Program of China (863 Program, 2013AA032003),
bases. In the subsequent high-temperature calcination, strong and the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program,
basicity can be generated from the decomposition of precursors. 2013CB733504).
Nonetheless, high-temperature calcination is an energy-intensive
process, and the shrinkage and even collapse of porous structures
are almost inevitable. Furthermore, the dispersion degree of active
species, which is crucial to catalytic activity, is quite limited by
Notes and references
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solid strong bases by taking advantage of molecular precursor
grafting. This strategy allows the formation of strong basicity at
room temperature, which avoids the degradation of support
structures in conventional processes and of course, saves a lot
of energy. More importantly, the obtained materials show a
molecular-level dispersion of basic sites, which are particularly
expected for catalysis but impossible to realize by conventional
methods. We also demonstrated that these materials are highly
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with the high dispersion degree of lithium sites, is believed
to account for the activity. The present materials may offer
promising candidates for applications in a range of reactions
catalyzed by bases. The dispersion of active species is extremely
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11302 | Chem. Commun., 2014, 50, 11299--11302
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