One-pot synthesis of Mg containing MCM-41 (Mg-MCM-41) materials was carried out by a room temperature (RT) method and by a hydrothermal (HT) method and they were used for aldol condensation of 4-nitrobenzaldehyde and acetone and self-condensation of acetone. The RT method can prepare MCM-41 materials containing large amounts of Mg while maintaining the structural characteristics of MCM-41 even at very low Si/Mg ratios (large Mg loadings), but the HT method cannot. The RT method can also give more active catalysts than the HT method, because the catalysts prepared by the former method are more basic than those prepared by the latter one. The characterization results indicate that Mg atoms in Mg-MCM-41 prepared by the RT method exist as MgO dispersing well on the wall surface of pores, while those in Mg-MCM-41 prepared by the HT method are included in the bulk with a smectite-like structure.

Light scattering of amorphous optical polymer glasses was studied to investigate the local structure. The light scattering loss of poly (methyl methacrylate)(PMMA) glasses varied widely with polymerization conditions, even though a contaminant-free monomer were used. PMMA glasses polymerized below the glass transition temperature (T g) had an excess scattering loss due to a large-size (tens of nm) heterogeneous structure with a refractive-index difference of the order of 10-4. With polymerization above T g , no excess scattering was observed. On the other hand, polystyrene (PS) glasses polymerized below or above T g had no excess scattering, and thus no large size heterogeneities. The origin of the large heterogeneous structure in amorphous polymer glass is discussed.