With the current abundance of nanoporous inorganic solids, it is possible to design, and characterize (in situ) in precise atomic detail, a range of novel catalysts that combine the merits, and simulate the behaviour, of many important examples of heterogeneous, homogeneous and to a lesser extent enzymatic catalysts.<br/>In essence, single-site heterogeneous catalysts (SSHCs), that are of fundamental value in effecting several desirable regio-selective, shape-selective and enantioselective reactions, may be fashioned from the appropriate nanoporous matrix. Large molecular precursors, incapable of entering the inner surfaces of microporous zeolites or aluminophosphates, may be readily sequestered inside certain mesoporous hosts, and thereby be anchored to the inner walls or converted therein to several highly selective catalysts. This approach offers considerable scope for the design of new catalysts for: (i) many hitherto difficult to execute, selective (cascade) hydrogenations and oxidations, often under solvent-free conditions; (ii) creating environmentally acceptable (clean and green) processes for harnessing renewable feedstocks; and (iii) utilizing more efficiently non-renewable ones for the production of both fine and bulk chemicals. In addition, some SSHCs promise to be of value to synthetic organic chemists interested in the intermolecular formation of C-C and C=N bonds.<br/>

Chemical adventures using the unified principles of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis

249th National Meeting (2015)

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