Interests and challenges of organic solvent nanofiltration for sustainable chemistry: The case of homogeneous catalysis of metathesis

Abstract

The development of chemical reactions catalysed by homogeneous organometallic complexes has allowed a significant breakthrough in synthesis chemistry, but now research axes must integrate catalysts recycling at the early stage of their conception. Catalyst recycling by nanofiltration in organic solvent (OSN) may represent an innovative route since this separation process at a molecular level is a low energy consumer. Challenges for OSN are membrane stability in organic solvents and the mastering of filtration conditions. Molecular engineering of catalysts based on slight structural modifications is also proposed to associate activity and high retention for OSN recycling. This paper deals with the integration of OSN within the homogeneous catalytic olefin metathesis reaction. © 2012 WIT Press.