What can we expect from mesoporous materials in the field of heterogeneous catalysis?

Abstract

Novel catalyses on mesoporous materials, especially on MCM-41(M41), have been summarized on the basis of our recent results. The uniform surface of M 41 could result in the high selectivity in organic syntheses. For example, trans-stilbene oxide was obtained with 93% yield from stilbene and TBHP on Mn-M 41. The oxidation of sulfide with H2O2 proceeded asymmetrically on Ti-M 41 in the presence of optically active tartaric acid. The pure silica M 41 itself was further found to show unique acidity and catalyze various reactions including acetalization, Friedel-Crafts, Mukaiyama-Aldol, and Diels-Alder reactions. In addition, the combination of the M 41's acidity with nickel ion led the new catalytic reaction in which ethene can directly be converted to propene. This reaction consists of the dimerization of ethene to form 1-butene, the isomerizatiqn of 1-butene to 2-, and finally the metathesis of 2-butene and ethene to give propene.