Understanding contributions of zeolite surface hydroxyl groups over Au/USY in selective oxidation of aromatic alcohols

Metal-zeolites catalysts are of great importance in selective organic conversions. Zeolites possess features of highly-ordered porous network, adjustable acidic properties (Brønsted/Lewis), spatial nanoconfinement effects, unique shape selectivity and the strong (hydrothermal-) stability. The role of zeolite hydroxyl (z-OH) groups, such as bridging ones in Si-O(H)-Al (B acids) and terminal ones in Al-OH and Si-OH (silanols), in catalysis is an interesting topic, particularly when they are not catalytic active sites, while they affect the catalytic performances. This study comprehensively investigated series of Au/USY catalysts in the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde and clarified the dominating contributions of Al-associated z-OH groups to affecting catalytic conversions and selectivity via altering the Si/Al ratio and reducing z-OH groups by amorphous silica species derived from diethoxydimethylsilane under high-temperature calcination. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET, TEM, XPS, UV/Vis, FT-IR and in-situ DRIFT to investigate crystal structures, textural properties, morphologies, size distribution, chemical state of gold, acidity, and adsorptive properties. The experimental results proved that zeolites with a higher amount of z-OH groups tuned by Si/Al ratios or by diethoxydimethylsilane silylation exhibited higher catalytic activity because of the adsorption effect. Finally, a possible mechanism was discussed based on the experimental results and literature.