Outline Highlights Abstract Graphical abstract Keywords 1. Introduction 2. Experimental 3. Results and discussion 4. Conclusions References Show full outline Figures (9) Unlabelled figure Scheme 1. Formation of Au complex on BPy-PMO Fig. 1. (a) Au L3-edge XANES, (b) EXAFS oscillation, (c) Fourier transforms of EXAFS Fig. 2. (a) N2 adsorption isotherms and (b) NLDFT pore diameter distribution curves of Fig. 3. XRD patterns of BPy-PMO (black line) and AuNPs/BPy-PMO (blue line) in (a) low Fig. 4. (a) N2 adsorption isotherms and (b) XRD patterns of bare (black line) and Show all figures Elsevier Catalysis Today Volume 298, 1 December 2017, Pages 258-262 Catalysis Today Facile formation of gold nanoparticles on periodic mesoporous bipyridine-silica Silica-supported gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can be synthesized on a bipyridine incorporated periodic mesoporous organosilica (BPy-PMO) as an inorganic support. Reaction of a bipyridine group in the periodic mesoporous organosilica with HAuCl4 forms an AuCl2-based complex, and its structure corresponds to a homogeneous complex, [AuCl2(bpy)]Cl. Thermal reduction of the complex in H-2 results in the formation of small gold nanoparticles with an average size of ca. 3.8 nm. Combined with nitrogen adsorption, XRD, UV/Vis, TEM, and XAFS measurements, it is demonstrated that uniform gold nanoparticles are homogeneously distributed inside mesopores. The size and distribution of gold nanoparticles are mainly controlled by strong interaction of surface metallic Au with pore walls of the periodic mesoporous organosilica. AuNPs/BPy-PMO shows higher catalytic activity than Au/MCM-41 in aerobic oxidation of benzaldehyde. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.