Expanded titanosilicate MWW-related materials synthesized from a boron-containing precursor as an efficient catalyst for cyclohexene oxidation

Abstract Titanosilicate forms of expanded MWW-related materials (Ti-MWW-exp) are synthesized starting from a lamellar boron-containing MWW precursor. The boron expulsion by the nitric acid treatment from the molecular sieve framework left behind the vacancies. By extending the acid treatment time, Si species around the defects is dissolved and is the likely source for the species required to expand the interlayer space. The obtained Ti-MWW-exp material exhibits a superior catalytic activity in cyclohexene oxidation, and a high selectivity for cyclohexene oxide is also achieved. Moreover, this convenient post synthesis was also used in the preparation of interlayer expanded B-MWW and B–Al-MWW materials, giving rise to the design of the other interlayer expanded metallosilicates.