Amphiphilic Polymer Nanoreactors for Multiple Step, One-Pot Reactions and Spontaneous Product Separation

Performing multiple reaction steps in “one pot” to avoid the need to isolate intermediates is a promising approach for reducing solvent waste associated with liquid phase chemical processing. In this work, we incorporated gold nanoparticle catalysts into polymer nanoreactors via amphiphilic block copolymer directed self-assembly. With the polymer nanoreactors dispersed in water as the bulk solvent, we demonstrated the ability to facilitate two reaction steps in one pot with spontaneous precipitation of the product from the reaction mixture. Specifically, we achieved imide synthesis from 4-nitrophenol and benzaldehyde as a model reaction. The reaction occured in water at ambient conditions; the desired 4-benzylideneaminophenol product spontaneously precipitated from the reaction mixture while the nanoreactors remained stable in dispersion. A 65% isolated yield was achieved. In contrast, PEGylated gold nanoparticles and citrate stabilized gold nanoparticles precipitated with the reaction product, which would complicate both the isolation of the product as well as reuse of the catalyst. Thus, amphiphilic nanoreactors dispersed in water are a promising approach for reducing solvent waste associated with liquid phase chemical processing by using water as the bulk solvent, eliminating the need to isolate intermediates, achieving spontaneous product separation to facilitate the recycling of the reaction mixture, and simplifying the isolation of the desired product.