Recycling of Rare Earth Elements: From E-Waste to Stereoselective Catalytic Reactions

Raw mixtures of Rare Earths Elements, REE, recovered by E-waste, were used as catalysts to promote the (stereoselective) synthesis of highly valuable compounds. Y₂O₃, the major species that is recovered by the E-waste, can be easily converted into the catalytically active Y(OTf)₃ that is able to efficiently promote the Michael addition of indoles to benzylidene malonates and the stereoselective Diels-Alder cycloaddition between cyclopentadiene and 4-(S)-3 acryloyl 4-tert-butyl 2-oxazolidinone. Additionally, the raw mixtures were immobilissed onto silica and used to construct packed reactors, resulting in values for Productivity and Space-Time Yields that were significantly higher than those of the corresponding batch conversions. Notably, the prepared cartridge employed in the model Michael reaction maintained its catalytic efficiency for more than 4 days of continuous running.