Chiral bis(oxazolines) are readily dialkylated in the methylene bridge, opening the way to immobilization at that position, keeping the C 2 symmetry of the chiral ligand. Bis(oxazolines) functionalized with two allyl or vinylbenzyl groups are easily grafted onto mercaptopropylsilica. Another approach to immobilization is the polymerization of the ligands bearing vinylbenzyl groups to yield insoluble polymers. The Cu(OTf) 2 complexes of the immobilized ligands promote the enantioselective cyclopropanation reaction between styrene and ethyl diazoacetate. The results depend on the nature of the support and the method of immobilization. With regard to the type of solid, the best results, which are similar to or even better than those obtained with the corresponding dibenzylated homogeneous catalysts, are obtained with homopolymers. With regard to the bis-(oxazoline), that bearing indan groups leads to good results both onto silica and polymers, whereas with the ligand bearing tert-butyl groups good enantioselectivities are only obtained with homopolymeric catalysts. Some of the heterogeneous catalysts can be easily recovered and reused, as much as five times, with the same yield and stereoselectivities.

Bioreactors with covalently supported ionic liquid phases (SILP) were prepared as polymeric monoliths based on styrene-divinylbenzene or 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-ethylene dimethacrylate, and with imidazolium units loadings ranging from 54.7 to 39.8 % wt IL per gram of polymer. The SILPs were able to absorb Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB), leading to highly efficient and robust heterogeneous biocatalysts. The bioreactors were prepared as macroporous monolithic mini-flow systems and tested for the continuous flow synthesis of citronellyl propionate in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ) by transesterification. The catalytic activity of these mini-flow-bioreactors remained practically unchanged for seven operational cycles of 5 h each in different supercritical conditions. The best results were obtained when the most hydrophobic monolith, M-SILP-8-CALB, was assayed at 80 8C and 10MPa, reaching a total turnover number (TON) of 35.8 10 4 mol product/mol enzyme. The results substantially exceeded those obtained for packed-bed reactors with supported silica-CALB-Si-4 catalyst under the same experimental conditions.

In the last few years the use of Ionic Liquids (ILs) as alternative solvents for (bio)catalytic processes has increased substantially, and the benefits and different approaches reported to combine continuous flow systems and ILs are at the core of this overview.

The physico‐chemical properties of polymers with ionic‐liquid‐like moieties covalently bound to their surfaces (SILLPs) have been studied by thermal and spectroscopic techniques, as well as by direct impedance and dielectric measurements, and compared to those of the corresponding bulk ionic liquids. The effective transfer of properties from ionic liquids in solution to the supported species has thereby been demonstrated. The effects of the chemical nature of these tunable “solid solvents” on their macroscopic swelling and microwave heating, as well as the stabilities and activities of different catalytic moieties immobilized on the SILLPs, have been studied. Finally, the experimental effect observed in microwave heating can be directly correlated with the values of tan δ derived from dielectric measurements.

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Abstract:We have demonstrated that different methylaromatic compounds [1,4-dimethylbenzene (p-xylene), 1,3-dimethylbenzene (m-xylene), 1,2-dimethylbenzene (o-xylene), 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (mesitylene) and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene (pseudocumene)] can be aerobically oxidized in supercritical water (scH 2 O) using manganese(II) bromide as catalyst to give corresponding carboxylic acids in the continuous mode over a sustained period of time in good yield. No partially oxidized intermediates (i.e., toluic acid and benzaldehydes) were detected for the dimethylbenzenes and mesitylene reactions. By fine tuning pressure and temperature, scH 2 O becomes a solvent with physical properties suitable for single-phase oxidation since both organic substrate and oxygen are soluble in scH 2 O. There is a strong structural similarity of metal/bromide coordination compounds in the active oxidation solvents (acetic acid and scH 2 O) which does not exist in the much less active H 2 O at lower temperatures. This may account for the successful catalysis of the reactions reported herein. Aromatic acids produced by the loss of one methyl group occurred in all of these reactions, i.e., 3 ± 6% benzoic acid formed during the oxidation of the dimethylbenzenes. Part of this loss is thought to be due to thermal decarboxylation. The thermal decarboxylation process is monitored via Raman spectroscopy.

Positive effects of the polymeric support on the performance of supported chiral catalysts, in terms of activity, stability and selectivity-enantioselectivity, have been reported when the support is properly selected and optimized opening the way to the design of more efficient catalytic systems.

[formula: see text] A chiral pyridine-bis(oxazoline) ligand, functionalized with a vinyl group in the pyridine ring, can be polymerized with styrene and divinylbenzene to obtain supported chiral ligands. As proof of the usefulness of this supported ligands, the corresponding ruthenium complexes are catalysts for the cyclopropanation reaction of styrene with ethyl diazoacetate with up to 85% ee.