Synthesis of Sn-containing mesoporous silica nanospheres as efficient catalyst for Baeyer–Villiger oxidation

• Sn-containing mesoporous silica nanospheres (Sn-MSNSs) were synthesized by a direct synthetic method.
• Sn-MSNSs exhibited a higher activity in the Baeyer–Villiger oxidation of bulky cyclic ketone than Sn-MCM-41.
• Hydrophobicity of the catalyst would greatly affect the catalytic activity.

Sn-containing mesoporous silica nanospheres (Sn-MSNSs) with uniform crater-like mesopores were successfully synthesized by a direct synthetic method. The effects of Sn content and calcination temperature on the structural properties of Sn-MSNSs were investigated. Moreover, the catalytic performance of Sn-MSNSs in the Baeyer–Villiger (BV) oxidation of bulky cyclic ketone with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was studied. Compared with Sn-MCM-41, which possessed long mesopores, Sn-MSNSs with high hydrophobicity provided by high-temperature calcination exhibited much higher activity in the BV oxidation of bulky cyclic ketone, 2-adamantanone.

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