Molecular sieve-like wood achieves efficient chiral catalysis

Abstract

Molecular sieve catalysts have been adopted in chiral catalytic reactions due to their high specific surface area, nano-scaled pores and effective separation, however, the problems like low utilization ratio of channels, difficult modification, long period and complex preparation, and no economic benefits reduce its widely application. In this paper, natural wood was employed as raw material to preserve the cellulose skeleton rich in poly‑hydroxyl and the multistage porous channels of nanometer, micron and millimeter by simple treatment. A low-cost, high-yield and high-selectivity chiral catalyst could be obtained from wood with chiral catalytic sites. The in situ grafting method retains the well-developed multistage pore structure of wood, enhances the mass transfer and possesses universal applicability to different aldol condensation reactions. The asymmetric reaction of cyclohexanone and p-nitrobenzaldehyde is catalyzed by grafting readily available amino acids such as threonine, with a yield of 82% and selectivity of 57%. Molecular sieve-like wood possesses the advantages of low economic cost and good catalytic performance, which provides a potential possibility to replace traditional molecular sieve catalyst.