Enantioselective Epoxidation of Styrene by Manganese Chiral Schiff Base Complexes Immobilized on MCM-41

Two chiral Mn^III complexes synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction were grafted onto mesoporous silica MCM-41. The MCM-41-immobilized solid chiral catalysts were characterized by various spectrochemical and physicochemical methods (XRD, FTIR, ²⁹ Si NMR, TGA, UV/Vis/DRS, EPR, cyclic voltammetry, SEM, BET). Both the homogeneous and heterogeneous Mn^III chiral complexes are found to be effective catalysts for epoxidation of styrene. MCM-41-supported chiral catalysts are found to retain their catalytic activity up to five cycles. When an ionic liquid was implemented to enhance the catalytic recyclability of the homogeneous catalysts, they can be recycled up to three times. However, after the third cycle the catalytic activities of the complexes were found to decrease due to rupturing of the chiral catalyst.