Water‐Tolerant, Highly Active Solid Acid Catalysts Composed of the Keggin‐Type Polyoxometalate H3PW12O40 Immobilized in Hydrophobic Nanospaces of Organomodified Mesoporous Silica

High activity in tight spaces: Polyoxometalate H3PW12O40 surrounded by hydrophobic alkyl groups in the channels of mesoporous silica (see picture) showed exceptionally high catalytic activity for ester hydrolysis in water. The nanostructure based on mesoporous silica allows the aqueous reaction mixture to easily reach the active sites, despite their being surrounded by hydrophobic moieties. Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch.de/contents/jc_2002/2007/z702478_s.pdf or from the author. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.