Polyoxometalate complexes for oxidative kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols: unique effects of chiral environment, immobilization and aggregation

In this paper, the chiral surfactants bearing two long alkyl chains with hydroxyl groups at their terminals were synthesized and employed to encapsulate a catalytically efficient polyoxometalate through electrostatic interaction. The obtained chiral surfactant-encapsulated polyoxometalate complexes, in which a defined chiral microenvironment surrounds the inorganic cluster, were covalently immobilized into the silica matrix via a sol–gel process. Kinetic resolution of racemic aromatic alcohols was selected as the model reaction to evaluate the chiral supramolecular hybrid catalysts. Up to 89% enantiomeric excess was obtained by varying the reaction conditions. Importantly, the change of loading values of the chiral surfactant-encapsulated polyoxometalates leads to mutative inner microstructures ranging from uniform dispersion to subsequent formation of nanocrystalline domains in the silica matrix. Such a structural evolution differentiates the density and stability of the chiral microenvironment, resulting in a regular change of enantioselectivity of the prepared asymmetric catalysts. Moreover, the fixation of the chiral microenvironment surrounding the polyoxometalates by covalent immobilization was proved to have a promoting effect on enantioselectivity. The present research uncovers the unique effect of immobilization on the kinetic resolution. The strategy helps to understand the influencing factors of enantioselectivity, and provides a convenient and efficient approach for the construction of supramolecular asymmetric catalysts based on chiral surfactant-encapsulated polyoxometalate complexes.