Chiral phanephos derived catalysts and their application in asymmetric catalysis

Abstract

The research presented in this thesis is a project funded by the EU-network of the Marie Curie project NANO-HOST in collaboration with partner institutes. The aims of this network are to develop innovative methods for the preparation, recovery and reuse of single-site, nanostructured catalytic materials, and further on apply them in combination with specifically engineered reactors for a sustainable production process for making high value fine chemicals. One part of this project was to prepare chiral diphosphine ligands and their complexes for currently challenging reactions, such as asymmetric carbonylations (homogeneous catalysis). Catalytic studies of these chiral diphosphine ligands were carried out in asymmetric hydroxy-and alkoxy-carbonylations and hydrogenation reactions. The second part of this project was the heterogenisation of these chiral homogeneous complexes through collaborations with the network partners and furthermore their catalytic behavior was studied.