A series of tin-based mesoporous catalysts was prepared via a novel straightforward sol-gel procedure leading to an extremely short synthesis time decreased up to 5 min at room temperature. This synthesis, together with the precise control of the selected particle size, represents an advancement compared to the state of the art and can be easily applied to large scale production. Characterization of the materials revealed the presence of MCM-41 like architecture with a high specific surface area, narrow pore size distribution, insertion of tin in tetrahedral coordination and a good balance of Lewis/Brønsted acidity. Moreover, all these characteristics were almost identical for the entire series thus making these solids an ideal case study to investigate the influence of the particle size on the catalytic behavior. The Sn-containing materials were tested as catalysts in the conversion of dihydroxyacetone into ethyl lactate. The excellent correlation between particle size and catalytic performances proves the importance of size control. In addition, the absence of leaching was proved via hot filtration experiments and the materials preserved their activity in multiple catalytic cycles.

通过新颖的简单的溶胶-凝胶方法制备了一系列锡基介孔催化剂，这导致极短的合成时间在室温下缩短至5分钟。与现有技术相比，这种合成以及对选定粒径的精确控制代表了一种进步，并且可以轻松地应用于大规模生产。材料的表征表明存在MCM-41样结构，具有高比表面积，狭窄的孔径分布，锡在四面体配位中的插入以及Lewis /Brønsted酸度的良好平衡。而且，所有这些特性对于整个系列几乎都是相同的，因此使这些固体成为研究粒径对催化性能影响的理想案例研究。在二羟基丙酮向乳酸乙酯的转化中，测试了含锡材料作为催化剂。粒度与催化性能之间的极好的相关性证明了粒度控制的重要性。另外，通过热过滤实验证明了不存在浸出，并且该材料在多个催化循环中保持了它们的活性。