Organo-functionalized silica hollow nanospheres: synthesis and catalytic application

Organo-functionalized silica hollow nanospheres (OSHNs), newly emerging organic–inorganic hybrid nanomaterials, have attracted much research attention because of their combined advantages of unique hollow structure and hybrid organic and inorganic fragments. This Feature Article provides an overview of the various strategies employed to fabricate OSHNs, including OSHNs with functional cores (metal nanoparticles (NPs), molecular catalysts) and OSHNs with multifunctional organic catalytic groups. The advantages of OSHNs in catalysis are highlighted with an emphasis on chiral catalysis and cascade reactions. In particular, the concept of multifunctional OSHNs with different active groups spatially integrated within the OSHNs is presented.