Selective Syntheses on Heterogenized Metal Complexes

The preparation and application of heterogenized metal complexes is a relatively new field of research resulting in a new way of catalysis, that we cannot realize either with traditional homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysts. The heterogenized metal complexes can successfully combine the excellent performance (high activity and selectivity) of homogeneous catalysts with the easy separation and recycling of the heterogeneous catalysts. Additionally, in several cases the immobilization of metal complexes leads to enhanced stereo-, chemo- and enantioselectivity, interpreted by a mechanism related to the “confinement concept”. This review gives a summary of the different ways of preparation of heterogenized metal complexes on inorganic matrices and shows some applications of such catalysts in synthetic organic chemistry.