Biphasic systems, catalytic properties

A series of water-soluble polyether-substituted triphenyl phosphines (PETPPs) la-c has been successfully employed by Jin et al. [11] in the thermoregulated hydroformylation of 1-dodecene in the biphasic water/toluene system. The catalysts exhibit very good catalytic properties with conversions up to 93% and about 85% selectivity for aldehyde formation. The catalyst derived from rhodium(III) chloride and ligand Ic could be reused in four consecutive cycles without significant loss of activity or chemoselectivity. The n-selectivity of the product aldehydes was not determined. 

The hydrocarboxylation of styrene (Scheme 5.12) and styrene derivatives results in the formation of arylpropionic acids. Members of the a-arylpropionic acid family are potent non-steroidal anti-inflammatory dmgs (Ibuprofen, Naproxen etc.), therefore a direct and simple route to such compounds is of considerable industrial interest. In fact, there are several patents describing the production of a-arylpropionic acids by hydroxycarbonylation [51,53] (several more listed in [52]). The carbonylation of styrene itself serves as a useful test reaction in order to learn the properties of new catalytic systems, such as activity, selectivity to acids, regioselectivity (1/b ratio) and enantioselectivity (e.e.) in the branched product. In aqueous or in aqueous/organic biphasic systems complexes of palladium were studied exclusively, and the results are summarized in Table 5.2. 

Oligomerization and polymerization of terminal alkynes may provide materials with interesting conductivity and (nonlinear) optical properties. Phenylacetylene and 4-ethynyltoluene were polymerized in water/methanol homogeneous solutions and in water/chloroform biphasic systems using [RhCl(CO)(TPPTS)2] and [IrCl(CO)(TPPTS)2] as catalysts [37], The complexes themselves were rather inefficient, however, the catalytic activity could be substantially increased by addition of MesNO in order to remove the carbonyl ligand from the coordination sphere of the metals. The polymers obtained had an average molecular mass of = 3150-16300. The rhodium catalyst worked at room temperature providing polymers with cis-transoid structure, while [IrCl(CO)(TPPTS)2] required 80 °C and led to the formation of frani -polymers. 

The outlook of syntheses, based on using SC-CO2 or appropriate IL/SC-CO2 biphasic system for developing integral green chemical processes due to the physical and chemical characterishcs of these neoteric solvents and the enhanced enzyme catalytic properties seems promising. 

Table 1.6 Comparison of catalytic properties for biphasic and supercritical reaction systems...

In this report, the nse of ionic Uquids/supercritical carbon dioxide in biocatalytic reactions has been extensively reviewed. Properties of supercritical carbon dioxide, ionic liquids and ionic liqnids/supercritical carbon dioxide biphasic systems have been analysed. Representative examples of the enzyme catalytic reactions in IL/ scCOj biphasic systems have been included. Finally, the effect of the biphasic systems on activity, selectivity and stability of enzymes has been carefully analysed. 

Examples of synergistic effects are now very numerous in catalysis. We shall restrict ourselves to metallic oxide-type catalysts for selective (amm)oxidation and oxidative dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons, and to supported metals, in the case of the three-way catalysts for abatement of automotive pollutants. A complementary example can be found with Ziegler-Natta polymerization of ethylene on transition metal chlorides [1]. To our opinion, an actual synergistic effect can be claimed only when the following conditions are filled (i), when the catalytic system is, thermodynamically speaking, biphasic (or multiphasic), (ii), when the catalytic properties are drastically enhanced for a particular composition, while they are (comparatively) poor for each single component. Therefore, neither promotors in solid solution in the main phase nor solid solutions themselves are directly concerned. Multicomponent catalysts, as the well known multimetallic molybdates used in ammoxidation of propene to acrylonitrile [2, 3], and supported oxide-type catalysts [4-10], provide the most numerous cases to be considered. Supported monolayer catalysts now widely used in selective oxidation can be considered as the limit of a two-phase system. 

They are immiscible with many organic solvents. This immiscibility extends their use to biphasic systems. Furthermore, this property is extremely valuable for catalytic reactions because the product can be extracted from an ionic liquid using organic solvents, whereas the catalyst remains in the ionic liquid and can be directly recycled and reused. 

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