Stereo-catalysis

So you can see why branching in the polymerization process can be a problem—the symmetry is affected. And you can get a hint why PP was commercialized long after polyethylene. The chemistry and catalysis are a lot more demanding. Thats why Giulio Natra won the Nobel Prize for his contribution to the field of stereo-catalysis, the discovery of the effects of titanium chloride and organo-aluminum compounds. 

As an approach to biomimetic catalysis, Sanders and colleagues [67] synthesized a series of 1,1,2-linked cyclic porphyrin trimers that allow the stereo- and regiochemistry of the Diels-Alder reaction of 84 and 85 within the molecular cavity to be controlled, thereby producing prevalently or exclusively the endo 86 or the exo 87 adduct. Two examples are illustrated in Scheme 4.18. At 30 °C and in the absence of 88, the reaction furnishes a mixture of diastereoisomers, while the addition of one equivalent of trimer 88 accelerates the reaction 1000-fold and the thermodynamically more stable exo adduct 87 is the sole detectable product. 

Enzymes are proteins catalyzing all in vivo biological reactions. Enzymatic catalysis can also be utilized for in vitro reactions of not only natural substrates but some unnatural ones. Typical characteristics of enzyme catalysis are high catalytic activity, large rate acceleration of reactions under mild reaction conditions, high selectivities of substrates and reaction modes, and no formation of byproducts, in comparison with those of chemical catalysts. In the field of organic synthetic chemistry, enzymes have been powerful catalysts for stereo- and regioselective reactions to produce useful intermediates and end-products such as medicines and liquid crystals. ... 

The present homoallylation with isoprene under Ni-Et3B catalysis shows marginal success for the reaction with aliphatic aldehydes. Results are summarized in Table 6. Primary alkyl aldehydes (bearing no a-substituents) and sterically less-hindered secondary alkyl aldehydes undergo the homoallylation successfully to provide the expected products in good yields with excellent stereoselectivity (runs 1-5). The results in runs 3-5 indicate that the present reaction shows almost no diastereofacial selectivity with respect to the a-stereo centers of secondary alkyl aldehydes. Sterically demanding aldehydes, such as cyclohexanecarbaldehye and pivalaldehyde, provide the... 

An enantio-selective enzymatic hydrolysis of meso( )-2,5-diacetoxy-3-hexene gives (+)-( )-(25 ,5/ )-5-acetoxy-3-hexen-2-ol in 77% yield (92% ee).97 The monoacetate with its two allylic groups offers possibilities for stereo-controlled introduction of nucleophiles via Pd(0) catalysis. Synthesis of both enantiomers of the Carpenter bee pheromone based on this strategy is presented in Scheme 5.14.98... 

Van Deursen, R., Stampfer, W., Edegger, K. et al. (2004) Chemo- and stereo-selective biocatalytic reduction of a,/8-unsaturated ketones employing a chemo-tolerant ADH from Rhodococcus ruber DSM 44541. Journal of Molecular Catalysis B-Enzymatic, 31 (4-6), 159-163. 

Most examples discussed so far made use of amorphous inorganic supports or sol-gel processed hybrid polymers. Highly disperse materials have recently become accessible via standard processes and, as a result, materials with various controlled particle size, pore diameter are now available. Micelle-templated synthesis of inorganic materials leads to mesoporous materials such as MCM-41, MCM-48, MSU, and these have been extensively used as solid supports for catalysis [52]. Modifications of the polarity of the material can increase the reactivity of the embedded centre, or can decrease its susceptibility to deactivation. In rare cases, enhanced stereo- or even... 

In the very recent past, metal complex catalysis has been used with advantage for the stereo- and enantio selective syntheses based on the Henry and Michael reactions with SENAs (454-458). The characteristic features of these transformations can be exemplified by catalysis of the reactions of SENAs (327) with functionalized imides (328) by ligated trivalent scandium complexes or mono-and divalent copper complexes (454) (Scheme 3.192). Apparently, the catalyst initially forms a complex with imide (328), which reacts with nitronate (327) to give the key intermediate A. Evidently, diastereo- and enantioselectivity of the process are associated with preferable transformations of this intermediate. 

Control of reaction selectivities with external reagents has been quite difficult. Unsolved problems remaining in the held of nitrile oxide cycloadditions are (a) Nitrile oxide cycloadditions to 1,2-disubstituted alkenes are sluggish, the dipoles undergoing facile dimerization to furoxans in most cases (b) the reactions of nitrile oxides with 1,2-disubstituted alkenes nonregioselective (c) stereo- and regiocontrol of this reaction by use of external reagents are not yet well developed and (d) there are few examples of catalysis by Lewis acids known, as is true for catalyzed enantioselective reactions. 

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