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Mesoporous materials featuring high surface areas (>600m2g−1), narrow pore size distribution and tuneable pores diameters (>2nm), have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years due to their promising properties and applications in various areas including adsorption, separation, drug delivery, sensing and catalysis. Catalytic applications of such materials have been extended to numerous processes and reactions which range from acid catalysis (alkylations, acylations, esterifications, biodiesel production, etc.) to redox chemistries (oxidation of alcohols, alkenes, sulfides and hydrogenations of acids, aldehydes and ketones and alkenes/alkynes). In this chapter, we aim to provide an overview on the utilisation of mesoporous materials in heterogeneous catalysis, with special emphasis on acid and redox catalysed processes.

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Weakly acidic Zr‐SBA‐15 materials were synthesized by using a novel method to maximize the accessibility of zirconium sites in view of their catalytic applications. Synthesized materials at different ageing temperatures were characterized by means of several techniques such as XRD, N2 physisorption, TEM, ammonia temperature‐programmed desorption, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and subsequently used in a test acid‐catalyzed process such as the microwave‐assisted alkylation of anisole with benzyl chloride. Reaction results revealed the very high catalytic activity of the prepared Zr‐SBA‐15 materials, which depended mostly on the accessibility of the supported zirconium species and their speciation.

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