ORS9-0216
Kerr’s Catalyst Immobilized on CO₂-Switchable Dendrimers: Synthesis, Recovery, & Recyclability Studies
Topic
S9. Polymer Technology for Sustainability
When and Where
Sep 30, 2026
11:35 - 11:50
Room 201
Session Chairs
Heejoong KIM
Presenter(s)
Ross Jansen van Vuuren (University of Ljubljana)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
Deuterated compounds are increasingly important in medicinal chemistry, organic synthesis, and materials science, motivating the development of efficient and sustainable hydrogen-deuterium (H/D) exchange methodologies. Among existing systems, Kerr’s iridium(I) catalyst is a benchmark for selective H/D under mild conditions. To reduce metal leaching and product contamination while preserving the valuable iridium catalyst, we immobilized the catalyst on nitrogen-containing dendrimer architectures (dendrimers are specialized, symmetrical branched polymers). The resulting homogeneous dendrimer-supported catalysts promoted selective H/D exchange of various substrates with high D incorporation and product yield. Importantly, the dendrimer scaffold enables straightforward catalyst recovery from organic solvents e.g., DCM, upon addition of carbonated water, forming hydrophilic, water-soluble versions of the catalyst, simultaneously simplifying isolation of the deuterated product through phase separation. This paper presents the synthesis of several homogeneous dendrimer-immobilized catalysts followed by their attempted recovery (via the above methodology) and recycling studies. We found that the ratio of catalyst to tertiary N (within the dendrimer scaffold) to be critical in determining the effectiveness of the CO2-switchability process and the solubility of the dendrimer-immobilized catalyst in various solvents.
