Modified Cellulose with BINAP-Supported Rh as an Efficient Heterogeneous Catalyst for Asymmetric Hydrogenation

Asymmetric catalysis is the preferred method for the synthesis of pure chiral molecules in the fine chemical industry. Cellulose has long been sought as a support in enantioselective catalysis. Dialdehyde cellulose (DAC) is produced by the selective oxidation of cellulose and is used to bind 5,5′-diamino Binap by forming a Schiff base. Here, we report the synthesis of modified cellulose-supported Rh as a novel biomass-supported catalyst and the characterization of its morphology, composition, and thermal stability. DAC-BINAP-Rh was a very effective catalyst in the asymmetric hydrogenation of enamides and could be easily recycled. This work provides a novel supported catalyst that broadens the applications of cellulose in asymmetric catalysis.

Development of Chiral Potassium Strong Brønsted Base Catalysts for Enantioselective Carbon–Carbon Bond-Forming Reactions

Chiral alkaline metal Brønsted bases are traditional and reliable promoters in enantioselective catalysis. Here, new chiral potassium strong base catalysts were developed for enantioselective carbon–carbon bond-forming reactions of weakly acidic...

Leveraging Machine Learning for Enantioselective Catalysis: From Dream to Reality

Catalyst optimization for enantioselective transformations has traditionally relied on empirical evaluation of catalyst properties. Although this approach has been successful in the past it is intrinsically limited and inefficient. To address this problem, our laboratory has developed a fully informatics guided workflow to leverage the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to accelerate the discovery and optimization of any class of catalyst for any transformation. This approach is mechanistically agnostic, but also serves as a discovery platform to identify high performing catalysts that can be subsequently investigated with physical organic methods to identify the origins of selectivity.

Calcium catalyzed enantioselective intramolecular alkene hydroamination with chiral C2-symmetric bis-amide ligands

Enantioselective catalysis with calcium catalysts is challenging due to facile loss of the chiral spectator ligand. Herein a series of bis-amide calcium catalysts with chiral binaphtalene bridges is introduced.

Chiral tridentate bis(oxazol-2-ylimino) isoindoline-based pincer ligands: isolation and characterization via deligation from in situ prepared Cd-ligand complexes

Two-step synthesis of new chiral, bis(oxazol-2-ylimino) isodinoline-based pincer ligands for potential use in metal-mediated enantioselective catalysis reactions.