Highly efficient tungsten-substituted mesoporous SBA-15 catalysts for 1-butene metathesis

Tungsten-substituted mesoporous SBA-15 materials have been synthesized by using a direct co-condensation sol–gel method. These resultant materials have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), 29Si MAS NMR and UV–Visible spectroscopy. Results of these analysis indicated that these materials had high surface area, uniform hexagonal channels and thick framework walls which were similar to that of SBA-15 and the tungsten species were highly dispersed in the silica-based framework structure. The tungsten-substituted mesoporous SBA-15 materials were used as catalysts for 1-butene metathesis for the first time, and they showed excellent catalytic performance. Such outstanding catalytic performance should be attributed to the proper content of tungsten species and its high dispersion.