Ring opening of epoxides catalysed by poly(amidoamine) dendrimer supported on crosslinked polystyrene

Three generations of polystyrene supported poly(amidoamine) dendrimer were synthesized and characterized. The supported dendrimers were found to be efficient organocatalysts in the nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides by anilines under mild conditions. Higher generation dendrimer showed increased catalytic activity. The polymer supported catalyst was reusable. The catalytic activity of supported dendrimer was compared with the unsupported one and found that the supported dendrimer was a much more active catalyst. The higher activity of the supported dendrimer is assumed to be due to the better hydrophobic/hydrophilic interaction existing between the polystyrene matrix and the polar dendritic chains.