The multifunctional mesoporous Sn–Cu–Ti catalysts for the B–V oxidation of cyclohexanone by molecular oxygen

Abstract

The multifunctional three-component mesoporous Sn–Cu–Ti samples were successfully prepared by a facile one-pot AcHE method and characterized by XRD, N2 sorption, ICP, FT-IR, UV–vis, SEM and TEM techniques, and their catalytic performances were carried out in the B–V oxidation of cyclohexanone by molecular oxygen. The results show that both tin and copper species can homogeneously incorporated in the crystalline framework of mesoporous anatase TiO2, where tin species as the active sites would increase the Lewis acidity and the oxidation of benzaldehyde as pro-oxygenic agent would be promoted by the introduction of little copper species resulting in the improving catalytic performance. The prepared 15Sn–3Cu–Ti catalyst shows higher yield of e-caprolactone than other catalysts and exhibits excellent catalytic stability even after repeated reaction for five times without any further treatment. The outstanding catalytic performance for Sn–Cu–Ti catalysts could offer a valuable reference for the industrial development of B–V oxidation of cyclohexanone.