Elif Ertem, Nerea Murillo-Cremaes, Randy Patrick Carney, Anna Laromaine, Emma-Rose Janeček, Anna Roig* and Francesco Stellacci*
Chem. Commun., 2016, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C6CC01146B
A novel and convenient synthetic strategy for the preparation of magnetically responsive silica nanospheres decorated with mixed ligand protected gold nanoparticles is described. Gold nanoparticles are attached to the silica surface via stable amide bond formation. The hierarchical nanospheres show promising results as reusable and efficient catalysts for esterification reactions and they can be recovered through a simple magnetic separation.