Diphenylprolinol silyl ether is a widely used organocatalyst, and its immobilization on a solid support was investigated for the easy recycling and reuse of this catalyst. Because a silyl ether bond of the catalyst is weak, its alkyl ether was attached to polymers such as a polyquinoxaline-based polymer, a polystyrene polymer (PS) resin, and a polystyrene–poly(ethylene glycol) graft copolymer (PS-PEG) resin. Although a polymer-supported organocatalyst generally decreases its reactivity compared with the monomer catalyst, diphenylprolinol anthrylmethyl ether supported on PS-PEG was found to be a reactive organocatalyst; it catalyzed the Michael reaction of an aldehyde and a nitroalkene in water without an organic solvent being present, with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities.

Flow reactions using an immobilized diphenylprolinol alkyl ether catalyst 2 were investigated in three reactions of α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes and nitroalkanes such as nitromethane 3, nitroethanol 10, and nitroalkane 11, bearing two carbonyl groups. Whereas reactions using the corresponding monomer catalyst diphenylprolinol silyl ether 1 were slow, fast reactions were found with the immobilized polymer catalyst 2 in a batch system, and the latter was then applied to a flow system. In the Michael reaction of nitromethane 3, the polymer catalyst showed high reactivity in the initial 30 h and then decreased gradually. Good overall yield (72%) and turnover number (TON, 495) were obtained for a 60 h flow reaction, and the enantioselectivity of the product was excellent throughout. The TONs of domino reactions of nitroethanol 10 and nitroalkane 11, with two carbonyl groups, were 48 and 81, respectively.