Synthesis of GO-SalenMn and Asymmetric Catalytic Olefin Epoxidation

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) was used as a catalyst carrier, and after the hydroxyl group in GO was modified by 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS), axial coordination and immobilization with homogeneous chiral salenMnCl catalyst were carried out. The immobilized catalysts were characterized in detail by FT–IR, TG–DSC, XPS, EDS, SEM, X-ray, and AAS, and the successful preparation of GO-salenMn was confirmed. Subsequently, the catalytic performance of GO-salenMn for asymmetric epoxidation of α-methyl-styrene, styrene, and indene was examined, and it was observed that GO-salenMn could efficiently catalyze the epoxidation of olefins under an m-CPBA/NMO oxidation system. In addition, α-methyl-styrene was used as a substrate to investigate the recycling performance of GO-salenMn. After repeated use for three times, the catalytic activity and enantioselectivity did not significantly change, and the conversion was still greater than 99%. As the number of cycles increased, the enantioselectivity and chemoselectivity gradually decreased, but even after 10 cycles, the enantiomeric excess was 52%, which was higher than that of the homogeneous counterpart under the same conditions. However, compared to fresh catalysts, the yield decreased from 96.9 to 55.6%.