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Updated: Jun 14, 2025

Multiscale Sampling of a Heterogeneous Water/Metal Catalyst Interface using Density Functional Theory and Force-Field Molecular Dynamics
Published on: April 12, 2019
Unveiling the importance of catalyst framework and non covalent interactions in an asymmetric Fe-catalyzed O-H
Reena Balhara1, Garima Jindal1
1Department of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka 560012, India. gjindal@iisc.ac.in.
Abstract:
Fe-based catalysts as well as enzymes typically yield low stereoselectivity for carbene insertion into X-H bonds. Here, we have utilized DFT methods to understand the mechanism and unusually high enantioselectivity in an Fe-spiroBox catalyzed carbene insertion reaction into the O-H bond of aliphatic alcohols. Our transition state model shows a unique binding of the reaction intermediates to the chiral catalyst enabled by weak non covalent interactions that is absent in other X-H insertion reactions.
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