Constructing core-shell structured Au/Snβ@mesosilica composite for one-pot base-free conversion of glycerol to methyl lactate

Herein, core-shell structured Snβ@mesosilica (MS) composite was constructed by oriented assembly of mesoporous silica on microporous Snβ zeolite . The mesoporous channels in the shell were verified vertically aligned to the Snβ core, rendering sufficient mass transfer between the shell and core. The resultant Snβ@MS was thereafter employed as the scaffolds for anchoring Au nanoparticles to develop a bifunctional Au/Snβ@MS catalyst for one-pot base-free conversion of glycerol to methyl lactate (ML), which is regarded as a promising and sustainable route to ML production. Under optimum reaction conditions, a remarkable activity with 98.2% glycerol conversion and 91.9% ML selectivity was achieved. More importantly, the introduction of mesoporous silica shell can efficiently modify the Lewis/Brønsted acid ratio of Snβ@MS, thus inhibit the side reactions. While the confinement effects could protect the highly dispersed Au nanoparticles against sintering. Accordingly, a high stability and recyclability was achieved over the Au/Snβ@MS catalyst.