Morphology Tailoring of Sulfonic Acid Functionalized Organosilica Nanohybrids for the Synthesis of Biomass‐Derived Alkyl Levulinates

Publisher： John Wiley & Sons Inc

E-ISSN： 1521-3765|21|30|10786-10798

ISSN： 0947-6539

Source： CHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Vol.21, Iss.30, 2015-07, pp. : 10786-10798

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Abstract

AbstractMorphology evolution of sulfonic acid functionalized organosilica nanohybrids (Si(Et)Si‐Pr/ArSO3H) with a 1D tubular structure (inner diameter of ca. 5 nm), a 2D hexagonal mesostructure (pore diameter of ca. 5 nm), and a 3D hollow spherical structure (shell thickness of 2–3 nm and inner diameter of ca. 15 nm) was successfully realized through P123‐templated sol–gel cocondensation strategies and fine‐tuning of the acidity followed by aging or a hydrothermal treatment. The Si(Et)Si‐Pr/ArSO3H nanohybrids were applied in synthesis of alkyl levulinates from the esterification of levulinic acid and ethanolysis of furfural alcohol. Hollow spherical Si(Et)Si‐Pr/ArSO3H and hexagonal mesoporous analogues exhibited the highest and lowest catalytic activity, respectively, among three types of nanohybrids; additionally, the activity was influenced by the SO3H loading. The activity differences are explained in terms of different Brønsted acid and textural properties, reactant/product diffusion, and mass transfer rate, as well as accessibility of SO3H sites to the reactant molecules. The reusability of the nanohybrids was also evaluated.