Kinetic Resolution of Epoxides with CO2 Catalyzed by a Chiral-at-Iridium Complex.

Abstract

Chiral-at-metal bis-cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes are introduced as a new class of chiral catalysts for the reaction of epoxides with CO2 to form cyclic carbonates under conditions of kinetic resolution. Reactions are typically performed at room temperature in the presence of 1 mol % of iridium catalyst and 1.5 mol % of tetraethylammonium bromide as the nucleophilic cocatalyst to provide selectivity factors of up to 16.6. A variety of monosubstituted epoxides, including styrene epoxide, epoxides with aliphatic side chains, glycidyl ethers, and a glycidyl ester, are found to be suitable substrates. No polymerization side reaction is observed for any of the investigated substrates.