Immobilization of Carbonylcobalt Catalyst by Poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) through N→Co Coordination Bonds: The Promotional Effect of Pyridine and the Reusability of Polymer Catalyst.

A carbonylcobalt catalyst, immobilized by poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) through N→Co coordination bonds, has been prepared by solvothermal method. It has been revealed that the pyridine fragments in the polymer catalyst act not only as promoters to improve the catalytic performance of the carbonylcobalt catalyst for alkoxycarbonylation of ethylene oxide to methyl 3-hydroxypropanoate but also as stabilizers to enhance the reusability of the polymer catalyst. Furthermore, the polymer catalyst could be easily separated by filtration and reused with only a slight loss of catalytic efficiency.