Development of concerto metal catalysts using apatite compounds for green organic syntheses

Catalytic chemistry and catalyst design play key roles in achieving green sustainable chemistry, which strives for reductions in waste, energy, materials, risks and hazards, and costs. Our approach to green sustainable chemistry described here is the development of highly functionalized heterogeneous metal catalysts based on the unique characteristics of natural inorganic crystallites, such as hydroxyapatite, as macro-ligands for active metal species. These catalysts show the concerto effect between metal active species and surface properties, and so are considered concerto catalysts. This review emphasizes the creation of well-defined active metal sites on apatite compounds that exhibit novel catalytic performance in selective oxidations using molecular oxygen as a clean oxidant, highly efficient carbon carbon bond formations including asymmetric reactions, and chemical fixation of carbon dioxide.