Chiral MnIII (Salen) Covalently Bonded on Modified ZPS-PVPA and ZPS-IPPA as Efficient Catalysts for Enantioselective Epoxidation of Unfunctionalized Olefins

Synthesis of GO-SalenMn and Asymmetric Catalytic Olefin Epoxidation

Graphene oxide (GO) was used as a catalyst carrier, and after the hydroxyl group in GO was modified by 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS), axial coordination and immobilization with homogeneous chiral salenMnCl catalyst were carried out. The immobilized catalysts were characterized in detail by FT–IR, TG–DSC, XPS, EDS, SEM, X-ray, and AAS, and the successful preparation of GO-salenMn was confirmed. Subsequently, the catalytic performance of GO-salenMn for asymmetric epoxidation of α-methyl-styrene, styrene, and indene was examined, and it was observed that GO-salenMn could efficiently catalyze the epoxidation of olefins under an m-CPBA/NMO oxidation system. In addition, α-methyl-styrene was used as a substrate to investigate the recycling performance of GO-salenMn. After repeated use for three times, the catalytic activity and enantioselectivity did not significantly change, and the conversion was still greater than 99%. As the number of cycles increased, the enantioselectivity and chemoselectivity gradually decreased, but even after 10 cycles, the enantiomeric excess was 52%, which was higher than that of the homogeneous counterpart under the same conditions. However, compared to fresh catalysts, the yield decreased from 96.9 to 55.6%.

Synthesis of Sulfonic Acid-Functionalized Zirconium Poly(Styrene-Phenylvinyl-Phosphonate)-Phosphate for Heterogeneous Epoxidation of Soybean Oil

In this paper, a solid acid catalyst (ZPS–PVPA–SO3H) was prepared by anchoring thiol group on zirconium poly(styrene-phenylvinyl-phosphonate)-phosphate (ZPS–PVPA), followed by oxidation of thiol groups to obtain sulfonic acid groups. The solid acid catalyst was characterized by XPS, X-ray, EDS, SEM, and TG-DSC. The successful preparation of sulfonic acid-functionalized ZPS–PVPA was confirmed. Subsequently, the catalytic performance of ZPS–PVPA–SO3H was investigated in the epoxidation of soybean oil. The results demonstrated that ZPS–PVPA–SO3H can effectively catalyze epoxidation of soybean oil with TBHP as an oxidant. Moreover, there was no significant decrease in catalytic activity after 5 repeated uses of the ZPS–PVPA–SO3H. Interestingly, the ZPS–PVPA–SO3H was kept in 2 mol/L of HCl overnight after the end of the seventh reaction, and the catalytic activity was gradually restored during the eighth to tenth cycles.

Chiral MnIII (Salen) Immobilized on Organic Polymer/Inorganic Zirconium Hydrogen Phosphate Functionalized with 3-Aminopropyltrimethoxysilane as an Efficient and Recyclable Catalyst for Enantioselective Epoxidation of Styrene

Organic polymers/inorganic zirconium hydrogen phosphate (ZSPP, ZPS-IPPA, and ZPS-PVPA) functionalized with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane were prepared and used to support chiral MnIII (salen) complexes (Jacobsen's catalyst). Different characterization methods demonstrated that the chiral MnIII (salen) complexes was successfully supported on the surface of the carrier (ZSPP, ZPS-IPPA, or ZPS-PVPA) through a 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane group spacer. The supported catalysts effectively catalyzed epoxidation of styrene with m-chloroperbenzoic acid (m-CPBA) as an oxidant in the presence of N-methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMO) as an axial base. These results (ee%, 53.3⁻63.9) were significantly better than those achieved under a homogeneous counterpart (ee%, 46.2). Moreover, it is obvious that there was no significant decrease in catalytic activity after the catalyst 3 was recycled four times (cons%: from 95.0 to 92.6; ee%: from 64.7 to 60.1). Further recycles of catalyst 3 resulted in poor conversions, although the enantioselectivity obtained was still higher than that of corresponding homogeneous catalyst even after eight times. After the end of the eighth reaction, the solid catalyst was allowed to stand in 2 mol/L of dilute hydrochloric acid overnight, prompting an unexpected discovery that the catalytic activity of the catalyst was recovered again at the 9th and 10th cycles of the catalyst.