One-pot Hydrothermal Synthesis of Mesoporous V-SBA-16 with a Function of the pH of the Initial Gel and its Improved Catalytic Performance for Benzene Hydroxylation

V-SBA-16 catalysts with uniform cubic mesoporous structure were prepared by direct hydrothermal method as a function of the pH of the initial gel and characterized by ICP, XRD, TEM, N 2 adsorption–desorption, DRUV—vis and Raman spectra. The pH of the initial gel in synthesis of V-SBA-16 show important effects on the maintenance of well ordered mesoporous structure, introduced vanadium content and the incorporation of vanadium into the network of SBA-16 type mesoporous material. The initial gel system with a pH value of 2.0 was found to be a suitable for incorporation of vanadium and retaining the mesostructure of SBA-16. The catalytic activities of V-SBA-16 catalysts were evaluated for the hydroxylation of benzene using molecular O 2 as the oxidant. The highest phenol yield of 30.4% with a selectivity of 90% and turnover number of 105 were obtained over the VS-2.0 (1.67) sample prepared at the initial gel system with pH value of 2.0, which is attributed to its high V content and uniform framework V species that highly dispersed on the well ordered SBA-16 type mesoporous materials. Graphical Abstract V-SBA-16 catalysts with ordered cubic mesoporous structure, highly dispersed framework V species and relative high vanadium content are prepared by one-pot hydrothermal method with pH adjusting and show fascinating catalytic activity for benzene hydroxylation to phenol.