Ru–B amorphous alloy deposited on mesoporous silica nanospheres: An efficient catalyst for d-glucose hydrogenation to d-sorbitol

In this paper, highly ordered mesoporous silica nanospheres externally covered by methyl groups ( CH 3 ) but internally grafted by aminopropyl groups ( NH 2 ) were used as host matrix for loading Ru–B amorphous alloy nanoparticles (NPs). The NH 2 and the CH 3 groups served synergistically as effective functionalities for highly dispersing Ru–B NPs within the pore channels of the mesoporous host. Such catalyst was used in the liquid-phase d -glucose hydrogenation and delivered much higher activity than industrial Raney Ni and the commercial Ru/C catalysts. Meanwhile, it could be used repetitively for more than 9 times, showing a good potential in practical applications. This work demonstrated that the surface properties of mesoporous materials can be modified through region-selective immobilization of diverse organic groups, which is essential to optimize the catalysis for some reactions.