Synthesis and characterization of Cu/Cr hydrotalcite-like compounds and their highly efficient application in catalytic synthesis of benzoin methyl ether

Abstract Benzoin methyl ether (BME) is an important photosensitizer for coatings and printing technologies, and Cu/Cr hydrotalcite-like compounds (CuCr-HTLcs) is promising to be used as pollution-free catalyst for BME synthesis. However, little is known about effect of CuCr-HTLcs structure on catalytic synthesis of BME. In this work, a series of CuCr-HTLcs with different ratios of Cu to Cr (n Cu /n Cr ) was successfully prepared by a co-precipitation method. The structure of CuCr-HTLcs were systematically characterized. The copper and chromium in CuCr-HTLcs mainly exist in the form of Cu 2+ and Cr 3+ , respectively. The n Cu /n Cr has significant effects on crystallinity, acidity, and textural properties of CuCr-HTLcs. Subsequently, catalytic performance of CuCr-HTLcs was tested for BME synthesis. We found that BME synthesis is mainly influenced by combined effects of acid-site concentration and pore size. Moderate acid-site concentration and pore size (mesopores) are the critical factors for improving catalytic activity of CuCr-HTLcs and BME selectivity.