Characterization of silylated Ti-grafted HMS catalyst and its excellent epoxidation performance

Silylated Ti-grafted hexagonal mesoporous silica (HMS) catalyst was prepared by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using TiCl4 as titanium source and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDSZ) as silylating agent. The samples were characterized by XRD, N2-adsorption, FTIR, 29Si NMR, DR UV-vis, and evaluated by epoxidation of styrene, propylene, cyclohexene, and 1-hexene with cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) as oxidant, respectively. It is revealed that the catalyst possesses typical mesoporous structure, high hydrophobicity and highly dispersed tetracoordinated titanium sites and hence exhibits excellent performance in epoxidation of olefins.