Catalytic performance of H-β nanozeolite microspheres in one-pot dynamic kinetic resolution of aromatic sec-alcohols

In this paper, uniform H-β nanozeolite microsphere (β-ZMS) prepared by polymerization-induced colloid aggregation, combined with an immobilized lipase B from Candida antarctica (commercially available Novozym® 435), is applied as a racemization catalyst to the one-pot dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of aromatic sec-alcohols. The DKRs of various aromatic sec-alcohols can be carried out with high selectivity and conversion under optimum conditions. Importantly, it is found that, compared to commercial zeolites β (C-β), β-ZMSs display high selectivity for small sec-alcohol molecules because their shorter microporous channels reduce the diffusion time of substrate/product in the three-dimensional framework, and thereby decrease the possibility of secondary reactions. However, the β-ZMSs show a high racemization rate in the DKR of large sec-alcohol molecules, such as racemic 1-(1-naphthyl)-ethanol, thanks to their abundant accessible active sites. This observation will not only benefit the performance of acidic zeolite catalysts in one-pot DKR systems but also provide a new perspective on the application of nanozeolites in catalysis.