A new mesoporous catalyst was prepared by the reaction between 3-aminopropyltrimethoxisylane and Cu(II)-hexadecafluorophthalocyanine, followed by co-condensation of tetraethylorthosilicate around a micelle formed by n-dodecylamine. The surfactant was removed from the pores by continuous extraction with ethanol, giving the Si-CuF16Pc catalyst. This catalyst was characterized by SEM, FTIR, TGA, Si-29 NMR, N-2 adsorption and X-ray diffraction. SEM images confirmed that the catalyst material is formed by nanoaggregates with a diameter of 100 nm. N-2 adsorption isotherms showed that Si-CuF16Pc has a surface area of approximately 200 m(2) g(-1) and a porous diameter of 7.7 nm, characterizing the mesoporosity of this product. This novel material shows an excellent photocatalytic activity, degrading almost 90% of 2,4-dichiorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) up to 30 min, while only approximately 40% of photodegradation was obtained in its absence. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.