Nanoencapsulated graphene layers as sustainable confined reactor for organic reactions

Confined reactors are emerging technological platforms to carry out organic reactions in more environmentally friendly and cost-effective conditions. In this work, a hybrid supramolecular reactor composed of an amphiphilic block copolymer and a functionalized graphene has been developed and tested in several type of condensation reactions directly in water. Although these reactions are thermodynamically unfavored in aqueous media, they occur instantaneously at room temperature with high yield in the developed reactor (Y = 90% after 5 minutes). Moreover, a strategy to recycle the catalyst has been developed without losing efficacy after each cycle (Y > 80%), making this technology more appealing for industrial applications.