High-speed experimentation techniques applied to the synthesis of titanium silsesquioxane epoxidation catalysts

High-speed experimentation techniques are becoming powerful tools in many fields of chemical research, including catalysis. These techniques are characterized by the use of automated workstations that allow the preparation and the testing of a large number of small-volume samples in a short time. Here, high-speed experimentation techniques have been applied to the optimization of the synthesis of silsesquioxane precursors for titanium catalysts active in the epoxidation of alkenes. Different parameter spaces defined by the factors influencing the synthesis of silsesquioxanes were studied, and a very active and easy-to-prepare catalyst, based on silsesquioxanes obtained by the hydrolytic condensation of cyclopentyl trichlorosilane in acetonitrile, could be identified.