Heterogeneous catalysis based on supramolecular association

Abstract

Heterogeneous catalysis is based mostly on materials built with strong covalent bonds. However, supramolecular aggregation in which individual components self-assemble due to non-covalent interactions to create a larger entity offers also considerable potential for the preparation of materials with application in catalysis. The present article provides a perspective on the use of supramolecular aggregation for the development of heterogeneous catalysts. One of the main advantages of this approach is that the preparation procedure based on spontaneous self-assembly is frequently simpler than those that require the formation of covalent bonds. The emphasis in this article has been placed on the use in the preparation of heterogeneous catalysts of not only carbon materials, particularly graphene and carbon nanotubes, but also dendrimers and organic capsules. Examples of hybrid organic–inorganic materials such as mesoporous organosilicas, metal–organic frameworks and heteropolyacids are also briefly described. The purpose is to illustrate the breadth of the field and the diverse array of possibilities already developed to apply the concepts of supramolecular association in heterogeneous catalysis.