Zeolites enantioselective synthesis

The Direct Enantioselective Synthesis of Diols from Olefins using Hybrid Catalysts of Chiral Salen Cobalt Complexes Immobilized on MCM-41 and Titanium-containing Mesoporous Zeolite... 

Zeolites are crystalline but versatile materials. They may be modified in many ways they can be tuned over a wide range of acidity and basicity, and of hydrophylicity and hydrophobicity, many cations can be introduced by ion exchange and isomorphous substitution is possible also allowing build-in of isolated redox centers (e.g. Ti) in the lattice. Moreover metal crystallites and metal complexes can be entrapped within the microporous environment. There is for instance much progress in enantioselective synthesis on chiral catalysts immobilized in microporous or mesoporous materials [16]. 

A variety of solid Lewis and Br0nsted acids has been shown to catalyze Diels-Alder reactions. In several instances the results obtained with heterogeneous catalysts were better than those with homogeneous Lewis acid catalysts. Most of the reported reactions of interest in the synthesis of fine chemicals were catalyzed by (modified) zeolites, clays, alumina, or silica. Catalysts with interesting properties were obtained when support materials such as zeolites, alumina, or silica were treated with Lewis acids. These catalysts were moderately selective in diastereo-selective Diels-Alder reactions with chiral dienophiles and induced enantioselec-tivity (up to 31 % e. e.) in the reaction of cyclopentadiene with methacrolein after treatment with chiral derivatives. Excellent enantioselectivity in this reaction (up to 95 % e. e.) was observed with a polymer-supported chiral oxazaborolidinone. Because of their facile recovery and recycling, we expect that solid-acid catalysts will find increasing use in Diels-Alder reactions in the future. 

Immobilized copper-zeolite Y (Cu-HY) bis(oxazolines) were employed as heterogeneous catalysts in carbonyl-ene and imino-ene reactions, allowing the synthesis of a-hydroxy and a-amino carbonyl compounds 163 from 161 and 162 in satisfactory yields and high enantioselection <04AG(E)1685>. The use of a new, insoluble polystyrene-bound Box ligand (IPB-BOX) was also described with good activity (85-95% ee) <04TA3233>. 

The ability of zeolites to adsorb and retain small molecules such as water forms the basis of their use in the noncatalytic synthesis of fine chemicals (Van Bekkum and Kouwenhoven, 1988, 1989). One of the best recent examples is the use of NaA zeolite in the Sharpless asymmetrical epoxidation of ally lie alcohols (see Chapter 10) (Gao et al., 1987 Antonioletti et al 1992). In this Ti(IV)-catalyzed epoxidation by t-butyl hydroperoxide in the presence of diethyl tartrate (reaction 6.4), it has been demonstrated that the inclusion of zeolites (3 A or 4 A) leads to high conversion (>95%) and high enantioselectivity (90-95% ee). The effect of the zeolite is quite dramatic. It is believed that the role of the zeolite is to protect the titanium isopropoxide catalyst from water, perhaps generated during the reaction. 

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