ChemCatChem

All selection should be thiseeasy: The direct asymmetric aldol reaction of commercial aqueous glyoxal is catalyzed by trifluoromethyl-substituted diarylprolinol 1 to afford a β-formyl-β-hydroxy-α-substituted aldehyde in good yield with excellent anti selectivity and excellent enantioselectivity.

Is this the iron age? Well-defined iron-complex-catalyzed reduction of aldehydes, ketones, and imines using molecular hydrogen in water is presented. Under mild conditions, good yields for a broad range of substrates are achieved.

Ru lonesome tonight? Immobilized ruthenium clusters (50 Ru atoms) in nanosized mesoporous zirconium silica were synthesized by using an impregnation method starting from an aqueous solution of RuCl₃. The Ru cluster catalysts were thermally stable at 500 °C and showed remarkable activity for the hydrogenation of furan derivatives in water at room temperature under 5 bar hydrogen pressure.

Goodness, gracious, great balls of iron: Fe₃O₄-encapsulated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are synthesized and utilized as hosts for the separate immobilization of cellulase and isomerase for a continuous cellulose– glucose–fructose conversion sequence with a high yield of 51 % in aqueous solution.

Promotion by group high five: Silica-supported monomeric vanadium-oxide promoted the isomerization of various allylic alcohols, including under scaled-up and solvent-free reaction conditions. This catalyst also exhibited high reusability with no drop in activity.