Polymer Catalysts by Molecular Imprinting: A Labile Covalent Bonding Approach

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry, University of Duesseldorf, 40225 Duesseldorf, GermanyReceived April 4, 2001An imprinting technique with labile covalent interactions has been developed in the design of new polymercatalysts. The template monomer 2 was prepared and copolymerized with DVB or EDMA to provide thepolymer with a cavity having the shape of the transition state of the reaction as well as binding sites for thesubstrate and catalytic functionalities. The rate of hydrolysis of diphenyl carbonate (1) in the presence of theimprinted polymer IP-DVB-THF was found to be 120 times faster than the background uncatalyzed reaction.A K