Mesoporous silica functionalized with organic groups is a catalyst class of great potential currently receiving considerable attention. Many studies have been done on these hybrid organic-inorganic materials, focusing on either acidity/basicity or catalytic activity of the incorporated organic groups, but few have examined the relationship between the two types of properties. While considerable effort has been focused on incorporated acid groups, studies of supported bases, in particular, have been limited. The work to be discussed examines the implications of base strength on catalytic activity using a Michael addition probe reaction in an organic solvent. SBA-15 silica catalysts with pyridine and dihydroimidazole groups incorporated via co-condensation for the first time have been synthesized and characterized. These materials have highly accessible extended surfaces within the pores that can serve as catalytic domains, with a better distribution of active sites than catalysts functionalized by grafting. These catalysts have the same morphology, allowing direct comparison of their catalytic activity to each other and to the commonly studied propylamine-functionalized SBA-15. Results will be presented on the correlation between basicity and reactivity.

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