Soluble Polymer-Supported Homogeneous Catalysts

Immobilization of a homogeneous catalyst can in principle facilitate its separation and recycling , and therefore is of considerable interest to both academia and industry. Soluble polymers , in particular dendrimers as an alternative catalyst supports have received increasing attention in recent years. This strategy allows a catalytic reaction to be carried out under homogeneous conditions. At the end of reaction , the immobilized catalysts could be easily separated and recycled through solvent precipitation and temperature-induced phase separation , or using membrane reactor. This paper reviews the progress in soluble polymer-supported catalysts , mainly including linear polymeric catalysts and dendrimeric catalysts which can be attached into polymeric support via covalent or noncovalent interactions , focusing on polymer-supported chiral catalysts and their use in asymmetric catalytic reactions.