Studies towards a tailor‐made catalyst for the Diels‐Alder reaction using the technique of molecular imprinting

A tailor‐made catalytically active polymer catalyzing the bimolecular Diels‐Alder reaction is described. Kinetic studies carried out in acetonitrile at 82°C show a 270‐fold rate acceleration ( k cat / k uncat ) for the Diels‐Alder reaction between tetrachlorothiophene dioxide and maleic anhydride. The imprinted polymer induces Michaelis‐Menten kinetics, with an apparent K m of 42.5 mM and an apparent k cat of 3.82 × 10 −2 min −1 , respectively. Substrate selectivity, accessible binding site analysis, dissociation constant determination, and inhibition study were also performed.