The bigger, the better
20-Dec-2010
- USA
Macrocyclic oligomeric Co(III)-salen complexes derived from cyclooctene salen monomers are among the most active catalysts for asymmetric epoxide ring-opening reactions, but the reaction to make the catalysts produces a mixture of complexes with different ring sizes. Ring size may have a significant effect on the reactivity of the catalyst. US scientists have now been able to separate the mixture according to ring size and they tested each size for catalytic activity. They found that the larger the ring size, the more efficient the catalyst.
Original publication: Y Liu, J Rawlston, A T Swann, T Takatani, D Sherrill, P J Ludovice and Marcus Weck, Chem. Sci., 2011.
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