Patent ID: 7211705

Claim:
A method of catalyzing a chemical reaction, the method comprising: providing one or more substrates and a catalyst in a latent biphasic solvent that is switchable between a monophasic state and biphasic state, the biphasic state comprising a more polar phase and a less polar phase, wherein the products of the catalytic reaction are preferentially soluble in the more polar phase and the catalyst is preferentially soluble in the less polar phase; allowing the catalytic reaction to proceed while the latent biphasic solvent is monophasic; inducing the latent biphasic solvent to become biphasic; and separating the more polar phase from the less polar phase; wherein the catalyst comprises a polystyrene copolymer, the polystyrene copolymer comprising a first styrene monomer and a second styrene monomer, wherein the first styrene monomer is substituted with one or more catalytically active functional groups and the second styrene monomer is substituted with one or more lipophilic groups.