Carbonylation rhodium based

A single example of the reductive cyclization of allenic carbonyl compounds is reported, which employs a rhodium-based catalyst in conjunction with Et3SiH as terminal reductant.113 This protocol promotes hydrosilylation-cyclization to form both five- and six-membered rings with exceptional levels of yy -diastereocontrol. As revealed... 

It is now nearly 40 years since the introduction by Monsanto of a rhodium-catalysed process for the production of acetic acid by carbonylation of methanol [1]. The so-called Monsanto process became the dominant method for manufacture of acetic acid and is one of the most successful examples of the commercial application of homogeneous catalysis. The rhodium-catalysed process was preceded by a cobalt-based system developed by BASF [2,3], which suffered from significantly lower selectivity and the necessity for much harsher conditions of temperature and pressure. Although the rhodium-catalysed system has much better activity and selectivity, the search has continued in recent years for new catalysts which improve efficiency even further. The strategies employed have involved either modifications to the rhodium-based system or the replacement of rhodium by another metal, in particular iridium. This chapter will describe some of the important recent advances in both rhodium- and iridium-catalysed methanol carbonylation. Particular emphasis will be placed on the fundamental organometallic chemistry and mechanistic understanding of these processes. 

It was discovered by Monsanto that methanol carbonylation could be promoted by an iridium/iodide catalyst [1]. However, Monsanto chose to commercialise the rhodium-based process due to its higher activity under the conditions used. Nevertheless, considerable mechanistic studies were conducted into the iridium-catalysed process, revealing a catalytic mechanism with similar key features but some important differences to the rhodium system [60]. 

The use of catalytic SILP materials has been reviewed recently [10] covering Friedel-Crafts reactions [33-37], hydroformylations (Rh-catalyzed) [38], hydrogenation (Rh-catalyzed) [39,40], Heck reactions (Pd-catalyzed) [41], and hydroaminations (Rh-, Pd-, and Zn-catalyzed) [42]. Since then, the SILP concept has been extended to additional catalytic reactions and alternative support materials. In this paper we will present results from continuous, fixed-bed carbonylation and hydroformylation reactions using rhodium-based SILP catalysts as reaction examples demonstrating the advantages of the SILP technology for bulk chemical production. 

To make butyraldehyde, the precursor for NBA, the so-called Oxo process is used, reacting chemical grade propylene with hydrogen and. carbon monoxide at 250-300°F and 3500-4000 psi. See Figure 14-4.) Under those conditions, both feeds are liquids. The catalyst is an oil-soluble cobalt carbonyl complex dissolved in the propylene. If rhodium-based catalysts or complexes based on rhodium carbonyls and triphenyl phosphine... 

In 1970, the first rhodium-based acetic acid production unit went on stream in Texas City, with an annual capacity of 150 000 tons. Since that time, the Monsanto process has formed the basis for most new capacities such that, in 1991, it was responsible for about 55% of the total acetic acid capacity worldwide. In 1986, B.P. Chemicals acquired the exclusive licensing rights to the Monsanto process, and 10 years later announced its own carbonylation iridium/ruthenium/iodide system [7, 8] (Cativa ). Details of this process, from the viewpoint of its reactivity and mechanism, are provided later in this chapter. A comparison will also be made between the iridium- and rhodium-based processes. Notably, as the iridium system is more stable than its rhodium counterpart, a lower water content can be adopted which, in turn, leads to higher reaction rates, a reduced formation of byproducts, and a better yield on CO. 

Table 8.5 Mono- and bimetallic cobalt- and rhodium-based catalysts prepared from carbonyl compounds and used in the CO hydrogenation and/or hydroformylation reactions.

Reductive Carbonylation of Methanol. As discussed earlier, rhodium based catalysts are capable of catalyzing the reductive carbonylation of methyl acetate to ethylidene diacetate ( 1), as well as the carbonylation of methyl acetate to acetic anhydride (16). These reaction proceed only, wjjen, tjie reaction environment... 

Carbonylation of methanol has in recent years become a commercially important route for the production of acetic acid and methyl acetate. Industrial catalysts are at present homogeneous, based on cobalt and more recently rhodium compounds. The cobalt catalysts are less active 195) and require more severe operating conditions (i.e., 250°C, 650-750 atm) than the rhodium-based catalysts 196) (170-250°C, 7-14 atm). 

AO Plus [Acid Optimisation Plus] A process for making acetic acid by carbonylating methanol. Based on the Monsanto Acetic Acid process, but an improved catalyst (rhodium with lithium iodide) permits operation at lower levels of water. Developed by Celanese in the 1980s and operated by that company in Clear Lake, TX. Residual iodide in the product is removed by the Silverguard process. 

The move from a cobalt- to a rhodium-based process that was seen in methanol carbonylation (Section 4.2.4) is echoed in hydroformylation, thus the late 1960s saw the development of rhodium catalysts here too. Wilkinson and his colleagues found that RhH(CO)(PPh3)2 was an outstanding catalyst as it was very selective to aldehyde products (no alcohol formation, no alkene hydrogenation or isomerization occurred) and that very high n-ji- aldehyde selectivities of 20 1 for a... 

Although nickel i the prefer red metal for alkyne carbonylation, catalysts based on cobalt, rhodium, iron, ruthenium, and palladium are preferred for the carbonylation of alkenes, The common intermediate is an acyl-metal species formed by the ligand migration sequence... 

Efforts to optimize rhodium-based systems for methanol carbonylation led to the development of new supporting ligands containing phosphorus and sulfur donor atoms, both thiolates and thioethers, such as those used in the preparation of complexes (20) and (21). Ligands such as 2-diphenylphosphinothiolate have been shown to give rise to complexes that exhibit higher activities, up to four times faster, for the carbonylation of methanol compared to [Rh(CO)2l2] . ... 

The Cativa process is based on a promoted iridium catalyst, and offers a considerable improvement over the rhodium-based system as a result of increased catalyst stability at lower water concentrations, decreased by-product formation, higher rates of carbonylation, high selectivity (>99% based upon methanol), and improved yields on carbon monoxide. This is a more cost-effective process for methanol carbonylation owing to lower energy consumption and fewer purification requirements. Implementation of this new process has now been achieved in four plants worldwide. 

BP Chemicals Low Pressure Process Design. A process flow diagram for the BP Chemicals carbonylation process is shown in Figure 3 [9]. The reactor contains acetic acid, water, hydrogen iodide, methyl iodide, and the rhodium-based catalyst. Methanol is pumped to the reactor and carbon monoxide is compressed to approximately 36 bars (525 psig) and sparged into the bottom of the liquid filled reactor. 

In addition to rhodium-based catalysts, iridium-based catalysts have also been developed for carbonylation of methanol. The iridium system, known as the Cativa process, follows a cycle similar to the rhodium system in Figure 14.20, beginning with oxidative addition of... 

Rhodium-based homogeneous catalysts have found widespread application in a variety of processes, including hydroformylation of alkenes, methanol carbonylation to acetic acid (the Monsanto process), and various hydrogenation and C-H activation reactions. 

The hydroformylation reaction converts the unsaturation into a carbonyl moiety, as illustrated in the example of Scheme 2.6, in which methyl oleate is converted into methyl-9-stearate with methyl stearate as a byproduct, under the action of a rhodium-based catalyst. 

In this paragraph, we will discuss catalytic systems in which an iron compound is the only catalyst, that is we will not consider those systems in which an iron compound is used as a cocatalyst in what is considered to be a palladium- or rhodium-based eatalytic system. These last systems have already been discussed in paragraphs 6.3.1. and 6.5.2. Synthetic applications of iron-based systems for the carbonylation (Chapter 3) and reduction (Chapter 4) of nitroarenes have already been described. 

In the mid-1960s, Paulik and Roth at Monsanto Co discovered that rhodium and an iodide promoter were more efficient than cobalt, with selectivities of 99% and 85%, with regard to methanol and CO, respectively. Moreover, the reaction is operated under significantly milder conditions such as 40-50 bar pressure and around 190 °C [8]. Even though rhodium was 1000 times more costly than cobalt at this time, Monsanto decided to develop the rhodium-based catalyst system mainly for the selectivity concerns, and thus for the reduction of the process cost induced by the acetic acid purification, even if it was necessary to maintain a 14% w/w level of water in the reactor to keep the stability of the rhodium catalyst. In addition, Paulik et al. [9] demonstrated that iridium can also catalyze the carbonylation of methanol although at a lower rate. However, it is noteworthy that the catalytic system is more stable, especially in the low partial pressure zones of the industrial unit. 

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