Facile photoinduced pH-adjusting synthesis of high amount framework Ti-containing meso-silica catalyst for cyclohexane oxidation

Abstract Here, we report a facile photoinduced pH-adjusting method to prepare highly-active Ti-containing mesoporous silica catalysts (PIMTS) for cyclohexane oxidation, featuring high amounts of framework titanium species (Ti ca. 2.92 mol%) with uniform tetrahedral coordination state. Ordered meso-structure and framework substitutions of titanium are evidenced by a set of mutually complementary characterizations, catalytic tests and item-by-item comparisons with the hydrothermal crystallized counterparts (Ti-SBA-15). PIMTS acts as an efficient catalyst for cyclohexane oxidation, leading to the maximum KA oil TOF up to 393 min−1 when cyclohexane conversion is 49.9%.