Facile construction of functionalized periodic mesoporous organosilica for Ir-catalyzed enantioselective reduction of α-cyanoacetophenones and α-nitroacetophenones.

A facile method to construct chiral organoiridium-functionalized periodic mesoporous organosilica is developed. The heterogeneous catalyst displays excellent catalytic efficiency in the enantioselective reduction of α-cyanoacetophenones and α-nitroacetophenones in aqueous medium because of the hydrophobic nature and uniformly distributed active iridium species. The catalyst could be conveniently recovered and reused eight times without loss of its catalytic activity.