Recovered on Tape.

CATALYSIS; PHYSICAL & theoretical chemistry; CATALYSTS; CHEMICAL inhibitors; FLUOROCARBONS; ORGANOFLUORINE compounds; HYDROSILYLATION

The article reports on a research study related to homogeneous catalysis. A central challenge in homogeneous catalysis is achieving facile separation and the recovery of the catalyst once the reaction is over. An increasingly common solution is to append fluorocarbon chains to the catalyst. Because fluorocarbons are poorly miscible with most organic solvents, this modification makes it possible to remove the catalyst by extraction into a fluorous solvent or, in some cases, simply by cooling the reaction mixture to induce precipitation. Researchers show that a rhodium catalyst for hydrosilylation of ketones can be recovered efficiently and easily using Teflon tape. The catalyst, bearing three fluoroalkylphosphine ligands, was dissolved with the reagents in dibutyl ether.