Ti-MCM-41 supported phosphotungstic acid: An effective and environmentally benign catalyst for epoxidation of styrene

Mesoporous Ti-MCM-41 molecular sieve was synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. 5, 10, 20, 30 and 50 wt.% phosphotungstic acid (H3PW12O40) (PW) were supported on Ti-MCM-41 and the resulting catalysts were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption–desorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The host material suffers severe structural distortions at higher loading, which lead to a considerable loss of long-range orders. Their catalytic performances were evaluated in the epoxidation of styrene with dilute H2O2 (30%) as an oxidizing agent under liquid-phase reaction conditions over PW/Ti-MCM-41 catalysts for selective synthesis of styrene oxide. The influences of various reaction parameters such as temperature, time, solvents, PW loading and catalyst amount, styrene to H2O2 mmol ratios and acetonitrile (MeCN) to N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) volume ratios on the conversion of styrene and yield as well as selectivity of styrene oxide have also been studied in details. The results revealed that 20% PW/Ti-MCM-41 was more active than other catalysts. The PW/Ti-MCM-41, moreover, was found to be reusable and effective for the epoxidation of styrene.