Valorization of by-products of the sugar industry: New nanostructured hybrid materials containing sugar derived structures

This article describes some possibilities opened by sugar-derived structures in the field of new materials. We selected commercially available structures, mannitol M, sorbitol S, dulcitol D, which are low cost by-products of industrial sugars used for food. These structures present OH functions regularly distributed on a chiral carbon chain. We report here a valorization of these by-products by incorporating them into new silica hybrids. The synthesis, achieved by direct silylation of polyols M, S and D either with 3-(triethoxysilylpropyl)isocyanate, or 3-iodopropyltriethoxysilane led directly to the corresponding materials. The polycondensation occurred in situ because of the presence of a very tight hydrogen bonds network between the organic cores. Incorporation of gold (0) nanoparticles and lanthanide complexations were successfully investigated.