This Kilomentor post got me thinking about silica gel as a catalyst for lab-scale synthetic reactions. I've found isolated papers on the subject, such as this one from Rajca.

I have two questions:

• Have you used silica gel as a catalysts, and if so for which reaction?
• Where can I find a recent, comprehensive review of the literature on silica gel as a catalyst for lab-scale organic synthesis?

I'm especially interested in something pointing to the solid surface itself, rather than acid catalysis in general, as contributing to the rate acceleration.