Macromolecular Salen Catalyst with Largely Enhanced Catalytic Activity

A dinuclear copper(II) Schiff-base complex was immobilized in a poly(acrylate) matrix by emulsion polymerization. The spheric microbeads were used for aerobic catalytic oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol into 3,5-di-tert-butylquinone in methanol at ambient temperature to study the contribution of the macromolecular matrix to the overall rate acceleration of the reaction. The polymeric catalyst catalyzes the oxidation about 1 order of magnitude faster (k cat/k non = 470 000) than its low molecular weight analogue (k cat/k non = 60 000).