Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Catalysis Letters https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-021-03624-6 Base‑Free Benzyl Alcohol Aerobic Oxidation Catalyzed by AuPdNPs Supported on SBA‑15 and TiO 2 /SBA‑15 Mesoporous Materials Jussara Morais da Silva 1  · Renilma Carvalho Sousa 1  · Jean Cláudio S. Costa 1  · Janildo Lopes Magalhães 1  · Geraldo E. Luz Jr. 2  · Carla Veronica Rodarte de Moura 1  · Edmilson Miranda de Moura 1 Received: 18 February 2021 / Accepted: 5 April 2021 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021 Abstract It is known that the oxidative reactions of alcohols are sensitive to the characteristics of the catalyst, in such a way that the properties of the support are as important as those of the metallic phase. We consider the functionalization of support as a strategy to improve the catalytic performance in these reactions. We investigated the infuence of the modifcation of the Si/ Ti ratio of the TiO 2 @SBA-15 support (RSi/Ti = 75, 50 and 25) on the catalytic performance of the synthesized materials: Me/SBA-15, Me/TiO 2 @SBA-15 (Me = AuNPs or AuPdNPs). The techniques of XRD, adsorption, and desorption of N 2 , ICP-OES, XPS, SEM, and TEM were used for characterization. The structure of the SBA-15 was maintained in all sup- ports and catalysts and a signifcant reduction in particle size was observed in the modifed support S25 (AuPd/SBA-15: 18.96 ± 12.48 nm; AuPd/S25 (RSi/Ti = 25): 3.14 ± 0.85 nm). All Au and AuPd catalysts performed well, showing activi- ties > 53% in 2.5 h. However, bimetallic catalysts achieved greater prominence, reaching activities of 20 to 90% and selectiv- ity > 90% for benzaldehyde in 0.5 h. Among them, the AuPd/S25 catalyst stood out with signifcant activity and selectivity (90%), in addition to good stability in successive reuse experiments. Graphic Abstract The TiO 2 @SBA-15 support allows the synthesis of potentially active AuPd catalysts in aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol under base-free conditions and solvents. Keywords SBA-15 · Functionalization · AuPdNPs · Catalysis · Oxidation * Edmilson Miranda de Moura mmoura@ufpi.edu.br Extended author information available on the last page of the article