Liquid polymers as solvents for catalytic reductions

Nonvolatile solvents eliminate the health and environmental risks associated with volatile solvent use, but may pose their own risks and separation problems. Several liquid polymers are compared in terms of environmental risk, solvent polarity, and performance as solvents for homogeneously-catalyzed and whole-cell-catalyzed reductions. Asymmetric catalyst use and recycling was demonstrated using a combination of liquid polymer and supercritical CO2. A polymeric solvent was also found to protect air-sensitive catalysts from inactivation due to exposure to air.