From the point of view of Green Chemistry, polymer-based catalysts are very environmentally friendly. These catalysts can be used and recycled in green solvents such as liquid polymers and supercritical carbon dioxide. They can also be very selective.
In our recent studies, a series of α-w pyridyl-imine terminated polydimethylsiloxane ligands have been synthesized and characterized. It is interesting that these carbon dioxide miscible ligands form metallocyclic complexes when coordinated with copper(I) salt. Meanwhile, they provide perfect binding sites for copper (II) ions which then work as catalysts for more efficient aerobic oxidations of primary and secondary alcohols.