Silica gel anchored chiral Mn(III)salen complexes for enantioselective epoxidation of unfunctionalised olefins

Abstract

Heterogeneous Mn(III) chiral salen complexes are prepared through covalent attachment of salen ligand on silica gel via chloropropyl spacer and subsequent complexation with manganese. The complexes are well characterized by IR, UV/VIS, TGA and elemental analysis. Epoxidation of unfunctionalised prochiral olefins by Mn(III) chiral salen complexes using iodosobenzene and m-CPBA as the terminal oxidants and NMO as a co-oxidant was achieved with good yields albeit low enantiomeric excess.