Amorphous TiO2–SiO2composites as selective heterogeneous catalysts for the oxidation of styrene to 1, 2-epoxyethylbenzene

A series of amorphous TiO2–SiO2composite oxides with different TiO2contents were prepared by a one-step co-precipitation process as catalysts for selective oxidation of styrene to 1, 2-epoxyethylbenzene with aqueous hydrogen peroxide in acetonitrile. The amorphous TiO2–SiO2composites are found to be much more catalytically active than the one with partially crystallized TiO2. The TiO2–SiO2composite with 40 wt% TiO2(TSCO-3) presents the best catalytic performance. Under the optimal reaction conditions, the styrene conversion can reach 61.0% with a high selectivity of 95.4% to 1, 2-epoxyethylbenzene upon 1 h reaction. Moreover, the TSCO-3 catalyst exhibits a good cycling stability. The excellent catalytic performance can be attributed to the numerous exposed active centers and the fast release of the product from the active centers.