Mesopore immobilised bis(oxazoline) catalysts for enantioselective catalysis

Abstract

Mesoporous silica materials have the potential to replace many conventional silicas for uses such as supports for heterogeneous catalysis and absorbents. The large pore size and high surface area make them ideal for supporting bulky organometallic catalysts for enantioselective reactions. We have immobilised chiral bis(oxazoline) metal complexes onto the surfaces of some of these versatile supports (MCM-41 and MCM-48) via different tethering strategies. The resulting heterogeneous catalysts were shown to be highly active in the enantioselective cyclopropanation of styrene with ethyl diazoacetate