Highly selective multifunctional nanohybrid catalysts for the one-pot synthesis of α,β-epoxy-chalcones

•Nanohybrid system based on poly-l-leucine immobilised into rehydrated hydrotalcites.•Fully heterogeneous one-pot Claisen–Schmidt condensation/Juliá–Colona epoxidation.•A greener process by eliminating the solvent in the Claisen–Schmidt condensation.•Total selectivity towards epoxy-chalcones and excellent enantioselectivity.•The catalytic system is stable and active for at least 4 consecutive runs.

An efficient one-pot heterogeneous process for producing chiral α,β-epoxy-chalcones from the corresponding aldehydes and ketones has been described. The nanohybrid materials based on poly-l-leucine immobilised into rehydrated hydrotalcites did not require any pre-activation and were easily recovered and recycled for four consecutive runs without losing their catalytic efficiency in terms of conversion, total selectivity towards the corresponding epoxy-chalcones and excellent enantioselectivity.

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