10.1021/cm070038b.s001 Jason C. Clark Jason C. Clark Craig E. Barnes Craig E. Barnes Reaction of the Si<sub>8</sub>O<sub>20</sub>(SnMe<sub>3</sub>)<sub>8</sub> Building Block with Silyl Chlorides:  A New Synthetic Methodology for Preparing Nanostructured Building Block Solids American Chemical Society 2007 silyl chloride groups building blocks Si 8O building blocks linkage building block matrices material spherosilicate Si 8O Si 8O Building Block Preparing Nanostructured Building Block SolidsA series surface area matrices 2007-06-26 00:00:00 Journal contribution https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Reaction_of_the_Si_sub_8_sub_O_sub_20_sub_SnMe_sub_3_sub_sub_8_sub_Building_Block_with_Silyl_Chlorides_A_New_Synthetic_Methodology_for_Preparing_Nanostructured_Building_Block_Solids/3000025 A series of silicate based “building block” (bb) materials has been synthesized via the reaction of the cubic, spherosilicate Si<sub>8</sub>O<sub>20</sub>(SnMe<sub>3</sub>)<sub>8</sub> with the chlorosilanes HSiCl<sub>3</sub>, Me<sub>2</sub>SiCl<sub>2</sub>, and SiCl<sub>4</sub>. The resulting materials are amorphous, porous, high surface area matrices composed of intact Si<sub>8</sub>O<sub>20</sub> building blocks that are cross-linked together through a series of siloxane linkages formed from the reaction of trimethyltin groups on the spherosilicate precursor and the silyl chloride groups. These siloxane-based linkages provide chemically robust, covalent connections between building blocks. The distribution of chemically distinct linking groups may be influenced by manipulating initial stoichiometries, changing solvents, varying temperature, and using different linking silyl chlorides. General procedures for preparing silicate platforms having linking groups with specific connectivities to surrounding building blocks in the matrix are described. The synthetic strategy for preparing the building block matrices described here forms the basis for preparing a wide range of nanostructured solids in which the identity and distribution of linking groups can be controlled by design. Applications to heterogeneous catalysts are discussed.