SMART AND OBEDIENT SOLVENTS AND CATALYSTS

1
SMART AND OBEDIENT SOLVENTS AND CATALYSTS
A smart solvent or catalyst is one that will
automatically change its nature when
circumstances require it to do so. (pioneeri
ng work by Bergbreiter) An obedient solvent or
catalyst is one that will reversibly change its
nature when triggered to do so by the
operator. The trigger could be a
temperature rise application of a gas
irradiation with light The change in a solvent
could be fluorophobic/fluorophilic
protic/aprotic polar/nonpolar
volatile/nonvolatile The change in a catalyst
could be homogeneous/heterogeneous
2
A FLUOROPHOBIC/FLUOROPHILIC SWITCH
Rh2(O2CRf)4(MeOH)2

cyclohexane
Rf (CF2)9F
Jessop et al., Inorg. Chem., 2002.
3
SEARCHING FOR A NONPOLAR/POLAR SWITCH
Iwatani, J. Japan Petrol. Inst., 1978
Jessop et al., In progress