Bis-silylated dihydroimidazolium salt 1 and monosilylated imidazolium salt 2 are transformed to (NHC)RhCl(COD) complexes 3 and 4, which allow the preparation of hybrid silica materials either by sol-gel or grafting processes. After a full characterization of the materials by means of solid state NMR, N2-sorption measurements, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and elemental analysis, the catalytic activity is evaluated in the [2+2+2] cycloaddition of alkynes. Excellent yields of the cycloadducts are obtained for up to six consecutive cycles with the grafted material, using a simple filtration to recover the catalyst. Both conventional and microwave heating prove to be effective for the process described.