From Molecules to Silicon-Based Biohybrid Materials by Ball Milling

Hybrid nanoparticles with a large bridging organic group were prepared by mechanochemical-assisted sol–gel reaction. Planetary ball mill (PBM) was used for the first time to access the bis-silylated precursors, containing complex functionalities (such as hydantoins or a symmetrical urea obtained from α-amino esters). The process is based on a sequential reaction pathway involving liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) and 1,1′-carbonyldimidazole (CDI)-mediated one-pot/two-step reactions. Then hydantoins and the symmetric urea were used for the one-pot preparation of the corresponding bis-silylated compounds in a vibrational ball mill (VBM), followed by the mechanochemical sol–gel preparation of biohybrid bridged silsesquioxane nanospheres of uniform size.