Amino Acids Functionalized Heterogeneous Chiral Catalyst

Heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis remains as an exciting research field in chiral catalysis since the heterogeneous catalyst can be separated easily from the reaction mixture compare to conventional homogeneous catalyst. The aim of the research is to develop and investigate a novel heterogeneous asymmetric catalyst using amino acid as chiral promoter. The catalysts were synthesized by attachment of amino acids such as L-glutamic acid, L-leucine and L-phenylalanine onto the hydrophilic part of hydrolyzed octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS). The amino acidhydrolyzed OTS materials were used as catalysts for the asymmetric hydration of epoxycyclohexene to yield two diastereoisomers, namely (1R,2R)-trans-1,2-cyclohexanediol, (1S,2S)-trans-1,2-cyclohexanediol and cis-1,2-cyclohexanediol.