Mesoporous niobosilicates serving as catalysts for synthesis of fragrances

Niobium-containing siliceous-MSU-X mesoporous molecular sieves have been prepared according to an original pathway by the reaction between low-cost niobium species (ammonium trisoxalate complex of niobium (V)), silica precursor (tetraethyl orthosilicate), and biodegradable surfactant in strong acidic, acidic or almost neutral medium. The selective oxidation of several terpenes and terpenoids (geraniol, limonene, α-terpineol) using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant agent over novel Nb-catalysts is studied in this work. A variety of (Nb)MSU-X and (Ru,Nb)MSU-X materials prepared under different conditions has been employed (supermicroporous/mesoporous molecular sieves) for this purpose. The structure–function relationships in these catalysts are reported.