Chiral Bifunctional Metalloporphyrin Catalysts for Kinetic Resolution of Epoxides with Carbon Dioxide.

Chiral binaphthyl-strapped Zn(II) porphyrins with triazolium halide units were synthesized as bifunctional catalysts for kinetic resolution of epoxides with CO. Several catalysts were screened by changing the linker length and nucleophilic counteranions, and the optimized catalyst accelerated the enantioselective reaction at ambient temperature to produce optically active cyclic carbonates and epoxides.