• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.2099-2104
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• 2013

We present here an efficient and simple method for preparation of highly active Pd heterogeneous catalyst (CNT-Pd), specifically by reaction of dichlorobis(triphenylphosphine)palladium ($Pd(PPh_3)_2Cl_2$) with thiolated carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The as-prepared CNT-Pd catalysts demonstrated an excellent catalytic activity for the carbon-carbon (C-C) cross-coupling reactions (i.e. Suzuki, Stille, and decarboxylative coupling reactions) under mild conditions. The CNT-Pd catalyst could easily be removed from the reaction mixture; additionally, in the decarboxylative coupling of iodobenzene and phenylpropiolic acid, it showed a six-times recyclability, with no loss of activity. Moreover, once its activity had decreased by repeated recycling, it could easily be reactivated by the addition of phosphine ligands. The remarkable recyclability of the decarboxylative coupling reaction is attributable to the high degree of dispersion of Pd catalysts in CNTs. Aggregation of the Pd catalysts is inhibited by their strong adhesion to the thiolated CNTs during the chemical reactions, thereby permitting their recycling.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.325-327
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• 2013

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.1590-1600
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• 2014

Cinchona-based bifunctional catalysts have been extensively employed in the field of organocatalysis due to the incorporation of both hydrogen-bonding acceptors (quinuclidine) and hydrogen-bonding donors (e.g., alcohol, amide, (thio)urea and squaramide) in the molecule, which can simultaneously activate nucleophiles and electrophiles, respectively. Among them, cinchona-derived (thio)urea and squaramide catalysts have shown remarkable application potential by using their bifurcated hydrogen bonding donors in activating electrophilic carbonyls and imines. However, due to their bifunctional nature, they tend to aggregate via inter- and intramolecular acid-base interactions under certain conditions, which can lead to a decrease in the enantioselectivity of the reaction. To overcome this self-aggregation problem of bifunctional organocatalysts, we have successfully developed a series of sulfonamide-based organocatalysts, which do not aggregate under conventional reaction conditions. Herein, we summarize the recent applications of our cinchona-derived sulfonamide organocatalysts in highly enantioselective methanolytic desymmetrization and decarboxylative aldol reactions. Immobilization of sulfonamide-based catalysts onto solid supports allowed for unprecedented practical applications in the synthesis of valuable bioactive synthons with excellent enantioselectivities.