SAXS, FESEM and bet studies of mesoporous catayst sba-15 containing zinc porphyrin for epoxidation of limonene

Abstract

SBA-15 nanoporous silica was prepared by cooperative self-assembly of tetraethylorthosilicate precursor in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol)–block– poly(propylene glycol)–block–poly(ethylene glycol) copolymer surfactant and functionalized with (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) via sol-gel reaction to obtain NH2-SBA-15. The metalloporphyrin, [meso-tetrakis-(p-chlorophenyl)porphyrinato]Zn(II) (ZnTClPP) was synthesized from the reaction of meso-tetrakis-(p-chlorophenyl) porphyrin (H2TClPP) using zinc acetate dihydrate as a metal source and then immobilized on SBA-15 surface. The material, NH2-SBA-15-ZnP was characterized by SAXS, FESEM and BET studies and showed a similar pattern as SBA-15 indicating that the mesoporous hexagonal structure of SBA-15 was still retained. Then, the material was applied to catalyze the epoxidation of limonene, using H2O2/ammonium acetate at various temperatures and conditions. All the products formed from the epoxidation reaction were analyzed using GC-FID and GC-MS