Enantioselectivity of Photochemical Reactions within Polymer Microcapsules

Polymer microcapsule was employed as a reaction medium to achieve enantioselectivity in photochemical reduction of phenyl cyclohexyl ketone and photoelectrocyclization of tropolone methyl ether under the influence of various chiral inductors. In all cases, low but evident enantioselectivity was observed. The poor enantioselectivity is probably due to the facts that not all the capsules include simultaneously both the chiral inductor and the reactant molecules, and the wall of the microcapsule is not rigid enough to hold the reactant and the chiral inductor molecules in close contact.