Currently, pharmaceuticals are synthesized by <i>homogeneous</i>–phase catalysts thus requiring separation of the catalyst and the product. This can be solved by using <i>heterogeneous</i>-phase chiral catalysts that can also be used for continuous synthesis. The mechanism of heterogenous chirality transfer is examined by using model single crystal catalysts covered by a chiral modifier, naphthyl)ethylamine (NEA), which can be dosed in a controllable way in ultrahigh vacuum. The catalytic activity and enantioselectivity are measured using a high-pressure reactor attached to the ultrahigh vacuum chamber. This approach allows the catalytic results to be correlated with data from surface science experiments, for example, scanning tunneling microscopy of the interaction between the prochiral reactant and the chiral modifier, and infrared analyses of the nature and orientation of surface adsorbates, all measured on the same system. Furthermore, first-principles density function theory calculations can be carried out on the same systems that were used for the experiments to provide detailed insights into the mechanism of rate enhancement and chirality transfer induced by organic chiral modifiers.

Understanding chirality transfer on model single crystal catalysts

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