SBA-15 mesoporous silica has been functionalized with azidopropyl groups through both one-pot co-condensation and post-synthetic grafting. For both these methodologies, azidopropyltriethoxysilane was used to introduce the azidopropyl groups. The azidopropyl modified SBA-15 material synthesized by one-pot co-condensation had hexagonal crystallographic order, pore diameters up of 50 A, and the content of azidopropyl groups was found to be 1.3 mmol g À1 . The presence of the azidopropyl group was confirmed by multinuclear ( 13 C, 29 Si) solid state NMR and IR spectroscopy. Both these materials underwent very efficient Cu(I)-catalyzed azide alkyne ''click'' reaction (CuAAC) with a variety of alkynes. Nearly 85% of the azide present in the SBA-15 material was converted to the corresponding triazole when propargyl alcohol was used as the substrate. This methodology was also used to incorporate mannose into SBA-15. Incubation of this mannose labeled SBA-15 with fluorescein labeled Concanavalin-A led to the formation of a fluorescent silica-protein hybrid material. The ease of synthesis for the azide labeled SBA-15 material together with its ability to undergo very efficient chemoselective CuAAC in water would make it a very attractive platform for the development of covalently anchored catalysts, enzymes and sensors.

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An [Fe(III)(biuret-amide)] complex has been immobilized onto mesoporous silica nanoparticles via Cu(I) catalyzed azide-alkyne click chemistry. This hybrid material functions as an efficient peroxidase mimic and was successfully used for the quantitative determination of hydrogen peroxide and glucose via a one-pot colorimetric assay.

Methacrylate-labeled SBA-15 has been successfully synthesized from calcined SBA-15 and commercially available 3-trichlorosilyl propylmethacrylate. This material undergoes efficient thiol–ene “click reaction” with a variety of both thiol and disulfide-containing substrates in aqueous and organic media. The products were thoroughly characterized by a variety of analytical techniques including multinuclear (13C, 29Si) solid-state NMR, TG-DTA, and nitrogen adsorption desorption studies. Disulfide-containing substrates in which the TCEP-mediated reduction of the disulfide bond and its subsequent addition to the methacrylate group anchored in SBA-15 in one-pot were used to synthesize a silica–protein hybrid material composed of biotin-labeled SBA-15 and streptavidin. Electrochemically active material was synthesized from the reaction of ferrocene-containing thiol and the methacrylate-labeled SBA-15. The ease of synthesis for the methacrylate-labeled SBA-15 material together with its ability to undergo efficient chemoselective thiol–ene reaction would make it a very attractive platform for the development of covalently anchored enzymes and sensors.

Trypsin has been encapsulated in the mesopores of a hierarchical mesoporous silica material synthesized via Cu(I) catalyzed azide-alkyne click reaction between azide functionalized large spherical SBA-15 particles and alkyne functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). Encapsulated trypsin functions as an efficient biocatalyst and can be recycled several times.