Fabrication of Hierarchical Sn-Beta Zeolite as Efficient Catalyst for Conversion of Cellulosic Sugar to Methyl Lactate

In this work, BEA-type hierarchically structured stannosilicate zeolite Sn-Beta-H was developed, which involved alkali-induced degradation of all-silica Beta (Si-Beta) and self-assembly of the resultant Si-Beta fragments with SnCl2·2H2O in the hydrothermal condition templated with tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) and polydiallydimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC). The synthesized Sn-Beta-H zeolite was comprehensively characterized by means of XRD, N2 physisorption, TEM, UV–vis, XPS, TG, DRIFT, and FTIR spectroscopy with pyridine and deuterated acetonitrile adsorption. The Lewis acidity related to isolated tetrahedrally coordinated Sn species in the hierarchical porous Beta framework was revealed, which existed in the form of partially hydrolyzed and framework-integrated species. The Sn-Beta-H zeolite worked efficiently in the catalytic transformation of a series of carbohydrates into methyl lactate, outperforming the microporous Sn-Beta and postsynthesized mesoporous meso-Sn-Beta counterparts. The influence parameters such as mesoporosity, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, and Lewis acidity on the glucose conversion were studied in detail.