Synthesis, characterization of triphenyltin grafted on SBA-15 mesoporous silica and its catalytic performance for the synthesis of 4-methylacetophenone

The production of Ph3Sn–O–SBA-15 (Ph3SnSBA) was achieved by heating triphenyltin chloride and SBA-15 in N-methylpyrrolidone at 190 °C for 5 h using triethylamine as a catalyst. The composition, structure, and surface physical and chemical properties of Ph3SnSBA were characterized using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), 13C, 119Sn and 29Si solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in situ pyridine infrared spectroscopy (Py-IR), N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results of ICP-AES and organic elemental analysis showed that the grafting yield of Sn was 17% (by mass) for Ph3SnSBA. The elemental analysis and solid-state NMR results for Ph3SnSBA were consistent with grafting of triphenyltin on SBA-15. The N2 adsorption–desorption, XRD and TEM analyses showed that Ph3SnSBA retained an ordered hexagonal mesoporous structure, resulting in decreases in the surface area, pore size and mesopore volume, and an increase in acidity as compared with SBA-15. The Hammett acidity function (H0) value and the number of acid sites for Ph3SnSBA, obtained by the Hammett methods, were 2.77–3.30 and 2.07 mmol·g− 1, respectively. The Friedel–Crafts acylation of toluene and acetic anhydride over Ph3SnSBA was investigated. The yield of methylacetophenone (MAP) and the selectivity for 4-methylacetophenone (PMAP) were 79.56% and 97.12%, respectively, when the conditions were n (toluene):n (anhydride) = 2.0:1.0 with 6% (by mass) catalyst, and heating under reflux for 5 h. The PMAP selectivity still reached 93.11% when Ph3SnSBA was used for the fifth time under the same reaction conditions.