Silica-supported metal complex catalysts
have been developed and
used for organic transformations. The surface environment around the
supported metal complex enhances the catalysis based on a unique surface
effect. The design of the linker ligand structure induces the formation
of a highly reactive, coordinatively unsaturated metal complex on
the silica surface because of the isolated environment. In contrast
to the site-isolation effect, the accumulated metal complexes and
cocatalysts on the same surface facilitate the acceleration of the
catalytic reaction by concerted catalysis. The immobilization of multiactive
sites also promotes the tandem catalysis and development of complex
products from simple molecules through successive reactions. Surface
silanol species originating from the silica support also participate
in the catalysis. The control of the immobilization density/location
of metal complex/coimmobilized functionality/surface silanol is a
key factor for the achievement of site-isolation/concerted catalysis.
The direct interaction between the metal complex and coimmobilized
functionality facilitates the formation of unique reactive species.
The confinement effect of the pore structure of the support enhances
the accumulation of active species in mesopores, which boosts the
reaction rate, and slightly changes the ligand conformation, which
increases the enantioselectivity. The direct support electronic effect
is also one of the key factors affecting the surface organometallic
chemistry (SOMC) and photooxidation of linker metal complexes. These
acceleration effects were detected in both supported homogeneous catalysis
and SOMC. Not only the local structure of the metal complex and its
ligand but also the surface environment play the most important roles
in enhancing the catalysis. In this Review, representative examples
of silica-supported metal complexes whose catalysis is significantly
enhanced by their surface long-range environment are summarized. The
contributions of recent developments of spectroscopic techniques,
including DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR and XAFS, which support the
evaluation of such long-range interactions, are also discussed. The
surface design of the silica-supported metal complex facilitates highly
active, selective, and durable catalysis.