Cooperative Activation of Cobalt-Salen Complexes for Epoxide Hydration Promoted on Flexible Porous Organic Frameworks

Developing solid catalysts with multiple active sites working cooperatively is desirable for efficient chemical transformations. However, most solid catalysts are rigid and impede the cooperation between their spatially isolated active sites. Two flexible porous organic frameworks (POFs) with integrated Co(salen) as active sites have been successfully synthesized for mimicking the cooperative modes of enzymes. The POFs exhibit second-order rate dependence on Co(salen) concentration in the network and afford much higher TOF (3300 versus 2670 h^-1 ) than the homogeneous counterpart in the hydration of propylene epoxide. POFs with a flexible network thus not only facilitate but also enhance the cooperation of nearby Co(salen). Moreover, POFs could catalyze oversized substrates, have a wide substrate scope, and exhibit high stability.