Self-supported chiral catalysts for heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis.

A conceptually new strategy for chiral catalyst immobilization, self-supported catalysts, in heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis is highlighted in the present article. Various homochiral metal-organic polymers with diverse structures have been designed and readily prepared through coordination assembly of modular polytypic/polyfunctional ligands and metal ions without using any supports. These polymers have been successfully employed as chiral catalysts in a variety of heterogeneous asymmetric ractions, including hydrogenation, epoxidation, sulfoxidation, carbonyl-ene reactions, diethylzinc addition, and Michael addition. The self-supported heterogeneous chiral catalysts showed activity and enanioselectivity comparable or even superior to those obtained with their corresponding homogeneous counterparts, and could be readily recovered and reused several times without significant loss of activity or enantioslectivity.