Synthesis of Chiral Allylic Esters by Using the New Recyclable Chiral Heterogeneous Oxazoline-Based Catalysts

A new class of recyclable supported chiral heterogeneous ligands has been synthesized by the reaction of functionalized mesoporous SBA-15 with aliphatic- and aromatic-substituted chiral amino oxazoline ligands. The obtained chiral heterogeneous ligands were characterized by several techniques such as Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and BET-BJH. The application of these new heterogeneous ligands in copper-catalyzed asymmetric allylic oxidation of olefins by using perester showed better yields up to 95% and better enantioselectivities up to 96% compared to the corresponding homogeneous catalysts. These findings can be considered as an important step in the advancement of green chemistry. Investigation of the recyclability of the catalysts confirmed that they were easily recovered and reused eight times without significant losses in reactivity, yield, and enantioselectivity.