Strategies to immobilized catalysts: A key tool for modern chemistry

During the last few decades, a great deal of attention has been paid to develop methods for heterogenization of homogeneous catalysts in order to reduce costs and protect the environment. In this chapter, some recent advances in developing methods for heterogenization of homogeneous catalysts to achieve easily separable and recyclable solid catalysts are described. The immobilization of catalysts on solids such as silica or polymeric supports via various techniques is presented. In addition, the encapsulation of catalysts within silica matrices by sol-gel process or preparation catalytic polymeric microcapsules is demonstrated. Some promising approaches for the immobilization of catalysts using novel supports such as metal organic frameworks (MOFs), periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs) or magnetic nanoparticles is described in the end of this chapter. Moreover, the main analytical methods that are usually used to characterize heterogeneous catalysts are depicted.