Direct synthesis of titanium-substituted mesostructured materials using non-ionic surfactants and titanocene dichloride

Titanium-substituted mesoporous molecular sieves have been successfully synthesized using non-ionic surfactants and titanocene dichloride under strong acidic conditions. Structure-textural parameters of the synthesized materials were characterized by using X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption techniques. The increasing of the gel solution pH allows an enhancement of titanium incorporation within the mesostructure without damage of textural properties and presence of extra-framework titanium species. The high accessibility and dispersion of titanium centres has been proved by means of NH3 adsorption and DR UV-VIS spectroscopy and compared with a TS-1 zeolitic material. The synthesized materials show high catalytic activity and selectivity in the epoxidation of 1-octene using ethylbenzylhydroperoxide as oxidant. Moreover, surface hydrophobisation by silylation treatments promotes an increase of the selectivity toward the epoxide.