Ru–B amorphous alloy deposited on mesoporous silica nanospheres: An efficient catalyst for d-glucose hydrogenation to d-sorbitol

• Region-selectively modified mesoporous silica nanospheres were synthesized.
• Mesoporous silica nanospheres were used as nanocarrier for Ru–B amorphous alloy.
• The as-prepared Ru–B catalyst delivered high catalytic performances in d-glucose hydrogenation.

In this paper, highly ordered mesoporous silica nanospheres externally covered by methyl groups (CH3) but internally grafted by aminopropyl groups (NH2) were used as host matrix for loading Ru–B amorphous alloy nanoparticles (NPs). The NH2 and the CH3 groups served synergistically as effective functionalities for highly dispersing Ru–B NPs within the pore channels of the mesoporous host. Such catalyst was used in the liquid-phase d-glucose hydrogenation and delivered much higher activity than industrial Raney Ni and the commercial Ru/C catalysts. Meanwhile, it could be used repetitively for more than 9 times, showing a good potential in practical applications. This work demonstrated that the surface properties of mesoporous materials can be modified through region-selective immobilization of diverse organic groups, which is essential to optimize the catalysis for some reactions.

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