Zinc Silicates: Very Efficient Heterogeneous Catalysts for the Addition of Primary Alcohols to Alkynes and Allenes

Abstract

There is an astonishing parallel between the mechanism generally accepted for the addition of water to CO2 catalyzed by the enzyme carbonic anhydrase and the mechanism calculated for the addition of methanol to allene catalyzed by the naturally occurring zinc silicate hemimorphite. The latter reaction was investigated in detail following the observation that hemimorphite as well as an amorphous zinc silicate prepared in situ are excellent heterogeneous catalysts for the addition of primary alcohols to alkynes and allenes [Eq. (1)].