General routes for the synthesis of silica-immobilized symmetrical and unsymmetrical salophen and salen ligands and metal complexes have been developed starting from the natural product 4-allylanisole (methyl-chavicol and estragole). The key step of the syntheses is a microwave-assisted, platinum oxide catalyzed hydrosilylation of the terminal alkene of 5-allyl-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde to afford a sol–gel precursor which can be immobilized into silica before or after conversion to salen and salophen ligands to afford unsymmetrical and symmetrical silica-supported ligands, respectively. Both the symmetrical and unsymmetrical silica-supported salophens were found to catalyze the formation of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and carbon dioxide with catalytic activities at least comparable to those previously reported for non-immobilized homogeneous salophens. This reaction could also be carried out in a multi-phase flow reactor using ethyl acetate solutions of 3-phenoxypropylene oxide. Metal complexes of the silica-immobilized ligands could be prepared, and the aluminum complexes were also found to catalyze cyclic carbonate formation.

The use of potassium hydroxide activated Starbons® derived from starch and alginic acid as adsorbents for 29 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was investigated. In every case, the alginic acid derived Starbon (A800K2) was found to be the optimal adsorbent, significantly outperforming both commercial activated carbon and starch derived, activated Starbon (S800K2). The saturated adsorption capacity of A800K2 depends on both the size of the VOC and the functional groups it contains. The highest saturated adsorption capacities were obtained with small VOCs. For VOC's of similar size, the presence of polarizable electrons in lone pairs or π-bonds within non-polar VOCs was beneficial. Analysis of porosimetry data suggests that the VOC's are being adsorbed within the pore structure of A800K2 rather than just on its surface. The adsorption was completely reversible by thermal treatment of the saturated Starbon under vacuum.

A new class of palladium nanoparticles encapsulated in an organic crystalline salt matrix Pd@F2 (A-2) was developed. Matrix A-2 was readily prepared by mixing an aqueous solution of the tetrasodium salt of tetraphenylmethane-tetrasulfonate and the PdCl 4 salt of protonated tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)under hydrogen in water. Matrix A-2 contained 17-20 % of palladium and was not pyrophoric. The average size of the palladium metal particles was 7 nm. Matrix A-2 could be used as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the reduction of acetylene derivatives and had activity similar to that of Pd/C. The catalyst could be recovered and reused several times with just one four-hundredth of the palladium leaching after the first cycle.The reduction of diphenylacetylene could be selectively stopped at the cis-stilbene stage after one equivalent of hydrogen was absorbed. The same selective conversion could also be accomplished with terminal acetylenes. Matrix A-2 reduced aldehyde and epoxide groups very slowly which allowed the selective reduction of the acetylenes in the presence of aldehydes. This behavior contrasts with that of Pd/ C which reduces both aldehyde and acetylene groups simultaneously. A model, suggesting the selective imbedding of the aldehyde groups in the organic F2 matrix of A-2, isolating them from the palladium active sites, explains the observed phenomena.