No abstract

A family of glycerol derivatives, consisting of over sixty 1,3-dialkoxy-2-propanols and 1,2,3-trialkoxypropanes, both symmetrically and unsymmetrically substituted at terminal positions, have been synthesized and the possible role of these glycerol derivatives as substitutive solvents has been evaluated through measurements of their physico-chemical properties. The molecular diversity of the derivatives prepared results in significant variations of polarity properties, facilitating the identification of possible candidates for solvent substitution.

5In spite of the inherent advantages of reuse and stability of immobilized chiral catalysts, they are frequently not enough to justify the effort necessary to immobilize the chiral complexes, unless additional advantages are found. When chiral catalysts are immobilized on solids with surface and pores of well controlled size, shape and dimensionality, the solid may act as a nano-reactor reducing the free movement of reagents, intermediates and, mainly, transition states. In this way 10 relative energies of the transition states leading to the different stereoisomers may be modified and, as a consequence, the stereochemical result of the reaction is modified when compared with the obtained in solution. The use of support effects to improve and/or change the stereochemical result of enantioselective reactions is currently emerging as an area of interest, but still with a limited number of examples. A better comprehension of the support influence will be needed in 15 order to allow, in the near future, the design of chiral ligands better adapted to this strategy.