Heterogeneous dendronized polymer with peripheral copper moieties: From synthesis to catalysis and comparison with dendrigraft polymer

•Dendronized polymer as a heterogeneous catalyst.•Synthesis of tetra-substituted imidazole derivatives.•Higher generation better than lower generation.•Dendronized polymer better than Dendrigraft polymer.

Merrifield resin supported dendronized polymer and its copper complex having ethylene glycol initiated polyepichlorohydrin as core (EG-Gn-Cu, n = 0,1,2) have been synthesised for the first time and characterized. They were found to be highly selective heterogeneous catalysts for the synthesis of tetra-substituted imidazole derivatives under mild reaction conditions. Higher generation dendronized polymer showed increased catalytic activity due to extension and rigidification of the linear polymeric core. Dendronized EG-G2-Cu catalyst was found to be better over dendrigraft GLR-G2-Cu catalyst. No leaching of the metal from the catalyst was observed. Reusability of the catalyst was tested for five cycles without loss of significant catalytic activity.

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