Front Cover: Switching Product Selectivity in Immobilized Tungstate Catalysts by Control of Hydrophobicity of Mesoporous Silicate Supports (ChemistryEurope 2/2024)

Hydrophilic or hydrophobic nature of the mesoporous silicate support of immobilized tungstate complex catalysts affects the selectivity of the alkene oxygenation products. In their Research Article, S. Hikichi and co-workers report that the tungstate immobilized onto a hydrophilic support, which retains silanol groups, catalyzes the epoxidation in a less polar solvent. The tungstate immobilized onto a hydrophobic support, modified with trimethylsilyl groups for capping the silanol, produces trans-diol through epoxidation and following hydration in an aqueous solvent by the highly Lewis acidic tungsten.