SDchirnanocat · Sputtering-deposition of metallic nanoparticles onto chiral ionic liquids and applications in enantioselective hydrogenation

Sputtering-deposition of metallic nanoparticles onto chiral ionic liquids andapplications in enantioselective hydrogenation

The production of fine chemicals, such as chiral molecules, is one of the main applications of the chemical industry. However, any new process developed in Europe should be environmentally sound. Specifically, metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) are employed as catalysts for the production of compounds with interest in different fields, with the great advantage of being easily recyclable and reusable. These species can be generated and immobilized in ionic liquids (ILs), salts with melting point below 100 ºC, allowing the straightforward separation of products and recycling of the system. In addition, ILs are not “innocent” media and have a relevant influence in these transformations. The use of ILs with asymmetric properties can induce the formation of a specific enantiomer of each product. SDchirnanocat project focuses on the formation of chiral products by the use of enantioselective catalytic systems obtained merging the asymmetric properties of newly synthesized ILs with the catalytic activity of MNPs. To this end, MNPs were prepared onto ILs by sputtering-deposition (SD), an innovative technique which enables the fast synthesis of clean MNPs, avoiding the use of organic solvents and reducing agents. In contrast to other physical techniques, the SD of MNPs onto ILs allows the control of the size and shape of MNPs by the appropriate tuning of the sputtering conditions. These three concepts (MNP, chiral IL and SD) converge into the main aim of this project: The development of a novel enantioselective catalytic system based on MNPs prepared by SD onto chiral ILs for asymmetric hydrogenation reactions (Figure 1). Thus, SDchirnanocat addresses one major issue for society: the development of new methodologies for the preparation of high-value and fine chemicals in an environmental friendly way. The overall objectives of SDchirnanocat are: (1) the design and synthesis of “new” chiral imidazolium based ILs with different substituents whose ion pairs would act as chiral inductors; (2) generation of MNPs by SD onto chiral ILs; (3) application of the new optimized chiral MNP-IL system(s) in asymmetric hydrogenation.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз