Selective oxidation of styrene to benzaldehyde over mesoporous silica-based silver

An efficient catalyst with silver encapsulated into mesoporous silica (Ag/MS) was prepared via a hydrothermal method. The characterization was done with FT IR, XRD, SEM, BET, and EDX, and the well-organized structure of Ag/MS catalyst has been approved. It is found as an efficient catalyst for the selective oxidation of styrene to benzaldehyde employing hydrogen peroxide as a green and economic oxidant. The effect of various reaction conditions including reaction time, reaction temperature, different kinds of solvents were studied on the catalytic performance. In the optimized reaction conditions, the conversion of benzaldehyde was achieved 72% to 93%.