Synthesis of New Bimetallic Chiral Salen Catalyst Bearing Co(BF4)2 Salt and Its Application in Asymmetric Ring Opening of Epoxide

The newly synthesized homogeneous chiral Co(III) salen complexes were anchored non-covalently on the acidic sites of mesoporous Al-SBA-15. The Bronsted and Lewis acidic sites are attributed to the immobilization of fluorine functionalized chiral salen complexes on the supports. XRD, BET, TEM, FT-IR and ESCA (XPS) analyses were performed to characterize the property of support, and the structure of new homogeneous and heterogeneous chiral Co salen catalyst. The homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts could be applied in asymmetric ring opening of epichlorohydrine (ECH) by water. They showed very high enantioselectivity and a good yield up to 99% in the catalytic synthesis of optically active products.