One-pot synthesis of highly ordered Ru-containing mesoporous polymers/silica for benzaldehyde hydrogenation

Ordered Ru-containing mesoporous polymers/silica (xRu-MPS) was for the first time successfully synthesized via a one-pot method. Characterization results demonstrated that the xRu-MPS samples had ordered meso-structure and Ru nanoparticles were highly dispersed on/inside the mesoporous polymer/silica. The xRu-MPS catalysts were proved to be efficient for the hydrogenation of benzaldehyde and its derivatives. When the Ru loading reached up to 4.8 wt%, the conversion of benzaldehyde could arrive 96% with 97% selectivity to benzyl alcohol. The 4.8Ru-MPS catalyst can also catalyze the hydrogenation of a series of benzaldehyde derivatives with different substituents at the phenyl ring with high performance. The results are quite comparable with those obtained on mesopolymer supported Ru catalyst prepared by a traditional impregnation method.