Selectivity modulation through immobilization of chiral catalysts on nanostructured supports

Chiral catalysis has turned out to be the most efficient of the strategies to obtain enantiomerically pure compounds and, as an evidence, even nature uses chiral catalysts called enzymes. On the other hand, in the last years, numerous supported chiral catalysts have been prepared to try to reproduce the results obtained with homogeneous catalysts at the same time that they provide advantages such as recycling and stability. However, these advantages are not frequently enough to justify the use of supported catalysts. Nanostructured solids with well-controlled surfaces and pores may act as nanoreactors, hindering or even blocking some of the reaction channels and hence, modifying the different types of selectivity, including enantioselectivity. This effect is conceptually well assumed with three-dimensional supports, as chirality is normally explained in three dimensions; however, chirality is possible in any dimensional space and support effects have been also observed with two-dimensional supports. The example described here shows the use of supports to improve or even change the selectivity is an emerging interesting field.Financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Project CTQ2011-28124) and the Diputación General de Aragón (E11 Group co-financed by the European Regional Development Funds) is gratefully acknowledged.Peer Reviewe