An efficient bifunctional catalyst of TiO2 coating and supported Pd on cordierite for one-pot synthesis of MIBK from acetone

•A novel bifunctional catalyst for MIBK synthesis was proposed.•It exhibited 75% MIBK selectivity and 60% acetone conversion.•A high stability of bifunctional catalyst was observed.

We report here an efficient bifunctional catalyst of TiO2 coating and supported Pd on cordierite (T500/Cor&Pd/Cor) for one-pot synthesis of MIBK from acetone. The obtained 75% MIBK selectivity at 60% acetone conversion was the best performance ever reported for metal oxide based catalyst, without obvious deactivation for at least 12 h on stream. The superior performance of T500/Cor&Pd/Cor could be attributed to the dominant base sites and moderate acid sites on TiO2 coating caused by the nanoscale anatase crystallite, and its combination style of being physically mixed with Pd.