Biphasic catalysis process

These unusual properties were the basis of the fluorous biphasic catalysis process (FBC) first published in 1994 by Horvdth and Rdbai and demonstrated using hydroformylation chemistry as a pertinent example (7, 2) in a 1991 Ph.D. thesis, that was unfortunately not readily available to the homogeneous catalysis community nor published in the open literature, M. Vogt, under the guidance of his Ph.D. advisor, W. Keim, of the Rheinisch-WestflUischen Technischen Hochschule in Aachen, Germany, presented the first conceptual aspects of the FBC approach with an emphasis on oligomerization of alkenes, oxidation of alkenes, hydroformylation of olefins, and telomerization of dienes (5, 4). 

Biphasic catalysis is not a new concept for oligomerization chemistry. On the contrary, the oligomerization of ethylene was the first commercialized example of a biphasic, catalytic reaction. The process is known under the name Shell Higher Olefins Process (SHOP) , and the first patents originate from as early as the late 1%0 s. 

Aqueous biphasic catalysis is a special case of the two-phase processes of homogeneous catalysis. Despite the academic literature s provocative question "Why water " [18a, 18b], the advantages of water as the second phase and the "liquid support" are numerous. On the one hand, the search for the necessary solubility gap is much easier with water than with various organic-phase liquids (Figure 5.2). Additionally, water has many properties which predestine it as a ideal liquid support in homogeneous catalysis (see T able 5.1)[18c,18d]. 

The possibility of adjusting solubility properties is of particular importance for liquid-liquid biphasic catalysis. Liquid-liquid catalysis can be realised when the ionic liquid is able to dissolve the catalyst, especially if it displays partial solubility of the substrates and poor solubility of the reaction products. Under these conditions, the product phase, which also contains the unconverted reactants, is removed by simple phase decantation. The ionic liquid containing the catalyst can then be recycled. In such a scenario the ionic catalyst solution may be seen as part of the capital investment for a potential technical process (in an ideal case) or at least as a working solution (only a small amount has to be replaced after a certain time of application). A crucial aspect of this concept is the immobilisation of the transition metal catalyst in the ionic liquid. While most transition metal catalysts easily dissolve in an ionic liquid without any special ligand design, ionic ligand systems have been applied with great success to... 

TABLE 7.6. Process characteristics for optimised nonanal production (using liquid-liquid biphasic catalysis with ionic liquids) and butanal production (using SILP catalysis) on a 100.000 tons/year scale... 

These examples reveal the attractive features of fluorous biphasic catalysis methods for chemical processes. Reactions occur in the liquid phase and can be either homogeneous or biphasic. In either case, biphasic conditions are established at the end of the reaction so the separation is easy. Fluorous sol-... 

From the data in Table 2.1, it is clear that homogeneous catalysts are superior to heterogeneous catalysts in almost every way except stability, separation and reuse (which are all linked). The importance of these properties explains the success of heterogeneous catalysts. Biphasic catalysis represents an intermediate process sandwiched somewhere between homogeneous and heterogeneous... 

In the ideal biphasic hydrogenation process, the substrate will be more soluble or partially soluble in the immobilization solvent and the hydrogenation product will be insoluble as this facilitates both reaction and product separation. Mixing problems are sometimes encountered with biphasic processes and much work has been conducted to elucidate exactly where catalysis takes place (see Chapter 2). Clearly, if the substrates are soluble in the catalyst support phase, then mixing is not an issue. The hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexane in tetrafluoroborate ionic liquids exploits the differing solubilities of the substrate and product. The solubility of benzene and cyclohexane has been measured in... 

However, biphasic catalysis, such as the above-mentioned process, is hmited by the solubility of the reaction compounds in the aqueous phase. Hence, only compounds with sufficient water solubility are suitable for biphasic catalytic apphca-tion. More hydrophobic substrates caimot diffuse to the catalytic active species, which is solubilized in the aqueous phase, and the reaction cannot take place. 

In general, it can be concluded, that although a large scale biphasic solution process for hydrodesulfurization and hydrodenitrogenation is not likely to come soon, there are promising results in homogeneous catalysis which can lead to constmction of such processes in the future. 

The consequence of low alkene solubihty is in that industrially the RCH-RP process can be used only for the hydroformylation of C2-C4 olefins. In all other cases the overah production rate becomes unacceptably low. This is what makes the hydroformylation of higher olefins one of the central problems in aqueous/organic biphasic catalysis. Many solutions to this problem have been suggested (some of them will be discussed below), however, any procedure which increases the mutual solubihty of the organic components and the aqueous ingredients (co-solvents, surfactants) may... 

The concept of this biphasic catalysis implies that the organometallic catalyst is soluble in only one phase whereas the reactants and products are confined almost entirely to the other phase. In most cases, the catalyst phase can be reused, and the products and reactants are simply removed from the reaction mixture by decantation. In successful processes involving biphasic catalysis, the advantages of homogeneous catalysis listed above may be realized without the disadvantages of expensive separation of catalysts from products. 

In summary, six different industrial processes involving biphasic catalysis are known, and this new technology has proved be superior to traditional... 

Figure 4.24 a A general process schematic for aqueous biphasic catalysis, and examples ofwater-soluble phosphine ligands b the catalytic cycle for the Ruhrchemie/Rhone-Poulenc hydroformylation of propene. 

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