Three kinds of aminosilane (APTS: 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, TPED: N- [3-(trimethoxysilyl)propylethylene]diamine, TPDT: trimethoxysilyl propyl diethylenetriamine) functionalized mesoporous SBA-15 molecular sieves (denoted APTS-SBA-15, TPED-SBA-15 and TPDT-SBA-15) were synthesized by post-grafting. Using the static interaction between the amino group and chloroauric acid followed by chemical reduction, the gold nanoparticles were immobilized into the channels of SBA-15. The Au/

more »

... A-15 catalysts were systematically characterized by N2 physisorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The liquid phase hydrogenation of crotonaldehyde to crotyl alcohol (CROL) was used to investigate the effect of aminosilanes on the catalytic performance of the Au/amine-SBA-15 catalysts. The results revealed that the electron-donating ability of the aminosilane determines the selectivity towards the hydrogenation of the C= O bond on the gold catalyst. A stronger aminosilane electron-donating ability results in higher electron density on the gold active sites, which leads to the higher selectivity and yield of CROL.