title: Preparation and characterization of TADDOLs immobilized on hydrophobic controlled-pore-glass silica gel and their use in enantioselective heterogeneous catalysis.
abstract: Highly porous silica gel (controlled-pore glass, CPG, ca. 300 m2 g(-1)) with covalently attached TADDOLs (loading 0.3-0.4 mmol g(-1)) and Me3Si-hydrophobized surface has been prepared: First, mercaptopropyl groups were attached to the silica gel by treatment with (mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane; then the SH groups were trityl-protected, and the remaining accessible SiOH groups hydrophobized by silylation (heating with Me3Si-imidazole); after deprotection, the SH groups were used as nucleophiles for benzylation with TADDOLs carrying a 4-bromomethyl-phenyl group in the 2-position of their dioxolane rings; alternatively, the SH groups have been benzylated with the 4-bromomethyl-benzaldehyde acetal of diethyltartrate, and the diarylmethanol moieties of the TADDOLs created on the solid support by addition of excess phenyl, or 1- or 2-naphthyl magnesium bromide. Each step of the immobilizing procedure was carefully monitored and analyzed (Ellman's test, methyl-red test), and resulting materials characterized by electron microscopy, DRIFT spectroscopy (IR), 13C- and 29Si NMR solid-state NMR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The immobilized TADDOLs were titanated to give (iPrO)2Ti-, Cl2Ti-, or (TosO)2Ti-TADDOLates which were used for catalyzing the additions of Et2Zn or Bu2Zn to PhCHO and of diphenyl nitrone to 3-crotonoyl-oxazolidinone. The following findings are remarkable: i) The enantioselectivities and conversions of the reactions mediated by the CPG-immobilized Ti-TADDOLates match those observed under standard homogeneous conditions. ii) If and when the rates and/or the enantioselectivities of reactions have dropped after several applications of the same catalyst batch, washing with aqueous HCl/acetone and reloading with titanate leads to full restoration of its performance. iii) There is no detectable loss of the hydrophobizing Me3Si groups after nine acidic washes! iv) There is a seasoning of the catalyst material in the Cl2Ti-TADDOLate-mediated [3+2] cycloaddition of diphenylnitrone: Initially it is necessary to use 0.5 equivalents of the immobilized catalyst to match the performance of the homogeneous catalyst; after three runs the reaction rate, enantio- and diastereoselectivity have dropped considerably; acidic washing after each subsequent run completely restores the performance; after a total of seven runs the amount of catalyst can be reduced to 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, and 0.1 equivalents in the following runs, with identical good results!
authors.affiliation: Laboratorium für Organische Chemie der Eidgenössischen Technischen Hochschule Zürich, ETH Hönggerberg, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heckel
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Seebach