6533b86efe1ef96bd12cc98c

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Natural eutectogels: sustainable catalytic systems for C–C bond formation reactions

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description

Natural eutecto gels were prepared combining properties of amino acids with the ones of deep eutectic solvents. Soft materials obtained were fully characterised determining the gel-sol transition temperatures and analysing mechanical and morphological features through rheological measurements and polarised optical microscopy. All eutecto gels were tested as catalytic reaction media for the enantioselective aldol reaction and, the best performing one was also used to carry out the Michael addition. In both cases, eutecto gels proved to have a great potential as sustainable reaction media, allowing to perform processes under mild conditions, obtaining excellent yields and, in some cases, also good enantiomeric excess. Catalytic soft materials can be reused up to five cycles keeping the stereochemical control of the reaction and using a recommended solvent by recent sustainable solvent guidelines. This work was supported by the University of Alicante (VIGROB-316FI) and the Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad (PGC2018-096616-B-100). BS thanks Generalitat Valenciana (ACIF/2017/211) for her fellowship. We thank University of Palermo (FFR 2020) for financial support. C. R. thanks Elsevier and Società Chimica Italiana (Reaxys-SCI Small Research Grants 2019/2020; Project title: Supracages) for financial support.