Cooperative multiple activation catalysis

Cooperative asymmetric dual / multiple activation catalysis under confinement

– New project since July 2022 –

We wish to develop a deep understanding of cooperative asymmetric catalysis under confinement. Major questions are whether the entropic advantage observed with enzymes resulting from H-bonding networks can be transferred to bi-/trifunctional catalysts immobilized in mesoporous supports and whether this assembly can be used for a self-preorganization of the participating catalytic centers to allow for the targeted synergistic effects. A central strategy is to make use of the replacement of water/alcohol molecules in the active sites by the substrates, which results in an entropic overcompensation by substrate binding. Catalysts will be studied both as a whole and by splitting them into their individual parts