Synthetic efficiency demands that asymmetric synthesis, must be the long term objective for the synthesis of chiral molecules. While most attention has focused on transition metal catalysis, less effort has involved main group asymmetric catalysis. Furthermore, most metal catalysts are mononuclear. Given the nature of most chemical reactions wherein two groups are added, dinuclear catalysts have much more potential due to the ability to tailor the choice of metal to each reactant. A ligand derived from a,a-diarylprolinols and phenols provides spontaneous self-assembly of dinuclear metal complexes with zinc and/or magnesium as the metal. The effect of ligand structure on performance is evaluated. This catalyst has shown promise in asymmetric polymerization. Extension to hetero dinuclear chiral complexes is also illustrated.

Self-Assembly of dinuclear main group catalysts for enabling asymmetric synthesis

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.