Polymer-Anchored Bifunctional Pincer Catalysts for Chemoselective Transfer Hydrogenation and Related Reactions

A series of polymer-supported cooperative PC(sp3)P pincer catalysts was synthesized and characterized. Their catalytic activity in the acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling of alcohols and the transfer hydrogenation of aldehydes with formic acid as a hydrogen source was investigated. This comparative study, examining homogeneous and polymer-tethered species, proved that carefully designing a link between the support and the catalytic moiety, which takes into consideration the mechanism underlying the target transformation, might lead to superior heterogeneous catalysis. © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim