Efficient Aliphatic C-H Oxidation and C=C Epoxidation Catalyzed by Porous Organic Polymer-Supported Single-Site Manganese Catalysts

Bioinspired manganese complexes have emerged over recent decades as attractive catalysts for a number of selective oxidation reactions. However, these catalysts still suffer from oxidative degradation. In the present study, we prepared a series of porous Mn-N-4 catalysts in which the catalytic units are embedded in the skeleton of porous organic polymers (POPs). These POPbased manganese catalysts demonstrated high reactivity in the oxidation of aliphatic C-H bonds and the asymmetric epoxidation of olefins. Furthermore, these catalysts could be readily recycled and reused due to their heterogeneous nature. Morphological characterization revealed that the Mn-N-4 complex was individually distributed over a porous polymer network. Remarkably, the nature of the single-site catalyst prevented oxidative degradation during the reaction. The present work has thus developed a successful approach for bioinspired single-site manganese catalysts in which the oxidation reaction is confined to a specific channel in an enzyme-like mode.