Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Heterogeneous Removal of Water-Soluble Ruthenium Olefin Metathesis Catalyst from Aqueous Media Via Host-Guest Interaction
Published on: August 23, 2018
A Recoverable Ruthenium Aqua Complex Supported on Silica Particles: An Efficient Epoxidation Catalyst
Íngrid Ferrer1, Xavier Fontrodona1, Anna Roig2
1Departament de Química and Serveis Tècnics de Recerca, Universitat de Girona, Campus de Montilivi, 17003, Girona, Spain.
Abstract:
The preparation and characterization of complexes with a phosphonated terpyridine (trpy) ligand (trpy-P-Et) and a bidentate pyridylpyrazole (pypz-Me) ligand, with formula [RuII (trpy-P-Et)(pypz-Me)X]n+ (2: X=Cl, n=1; 3: X=H2 O, n=2), is described, together with the anchoring of 3 on two types of supports: mesoporous silica particles (SP) and silica-coated magnetic particles (MSP). Aqua complex 3 is easily obtained by heating 2 in refluxing water and exhibits a two-electron RuIV/II redox process. It was anchored on SP and MSP supports by two different synthetic strategies, yielding the heterogeneous systems SP@3 and MSP@3, which were fully characterized by IR and UV/Vis spectroscopy, SEM, cyclic voltammetry, and differential pulse voltammetry. Catalytic olefin epoxidation was tested with molecular complex 3 and its SP@3 and MSP@3 heterogeneous counterparts, including reuse of the heterogeneous systems. The MSP@3 material can be easily recovered by a magnet, which facilitates its reusability.
Related Concept Videos
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Sharpless Epoxidation
Heterogeneous Catalysis
Oxidation of Alkenes: Syn Dihydroxylation with Osmium Tetraoxide
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Overview
Ruthenium-based Grubbs catalyst is the most commonly used catalyst for olefin metathesis polymerization. Grubbs catalyst consists of a...
Preparation of Epoxides
Epoxides result from alkene oxidation, which can be achieved by a) air, b) peroxy acids, c) hypochlorous acids, and d) halohydrin cyclization.
Epoxidation with Peroxy Acids
Epoxidation of alkenes via oxidation with peroxy acids involves the conversion of a carbon–carbon double bond to an epoxide using the oxidizing agent meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid, commonly known as MCPBA. Since the O–O bond of peroxy acids is very weak, the addition of electrophilic oxygen of peroxy acids to...

