The potential of membrane reactors in the asymmetric opening of meso-anhydrides

A polymer attached cinchona-alkaloid was investigated in the asymmetric opening of meso-anhydrides. Variation of reaction parameters reduced the reaction time to 1 hour, which is very important for a continuous reaction. It turned out that due to product inhibition of the catalyst the conversion and enantiomeric excess decreased rapidly during a continuous reaction. In a repetitive batch system, it was possible to run the reaction over 18 cycles with a conversion of >99%. The ee value decreased to 60% over the first 7 runs and was stable at this value for the last 11 runs.