Characterization of 12-molybdophosphoric acid supported on mesoporous silica MCM-41 and its catalytic performance in the synthesis of hydroquinone diacetate

12-molybdophosphoric acid (PMA) was supported on mesoporous molecular sieves MCM-41 by impregnation of 12-molybdophosphoric acid followed by calcination. The nanochannels of MCM-41 provide a large surface area for the solid state dispersion of 12-molybdophosphoric acid. The samples have been characterized by N2 adsorption–desorption at −196 °C, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and FT-IR measurements. The acidity and catalytic activity have been, respectively, examined by nonaqueous titration of n-butylamine in acetonitrile and synthesis of hydroquinone diacetate. The results showed that ordered hexagonal pore structure was observed in the synthesized MCM-41. Also the results indicate that PMA are highly dispersed on mesoporous silica MCM-41 spherical nanoparticles while PMA retains its Keggin structure. On the other hand, with increasing the introduced PMA amount, the specific surface area decreases, and the mesoporous ordering of the samples become poor. Both the surface acidity and the catalytic activity sharply increase with the modification of MCM-41 by PMA but decrease by increasing the calcination temperature. The sample with 55 wt% PMA/MCM-41 calcined at 350 °C shows the highest acidity and catalytic activity.