Carbonyls, cobalt iridium

As early as 1938, Otto Roelen discovered hydroformylation when observing the formation of aldehydes in the presence of cobalt carbonyls. Cobalt carbonyls are extremely effective catalysts for a variety of carbonylation reactions, but have been largely overlooked in recent years due to the overwhelming research efforts into rhodium and iridium chemistry. However, cobalt affords a much cheaper catalyst and is still attractive from an industrial perspective. HP-NMR and HP-IR studies of such catalysts have recently been reviewed. 

The formal conjugate addition of a hydride to a,f(-unsaturated carbonyl compounds with a subsequent aldol reaction of the in situ formed enolate has been frequently employed in organic synthesis. A broad range of procedures have been developed using various metals (e.g., rhodium, cobalt, iridium, mthenium, copper) and different reductants (typically silanes, boranes, or elemental hydrogen) [37]. 

The stereospecific polymerization of alkenes is catalyzed by coordination compounds such as Ziegler-Natta catalysts, which are heterogeneous TiCl —AI alkyl complexes. Cobalt carbonyl is a catalyst for the polymerization of monoepoxides several rhodium and iridium coordination compounds... 

The most stable carbonyls of rhodium and iridium are respectively red and yellow solids of the form [M4(CO)i2] which are obtained by heating MCI3 with copper metal under about 200 atm of CO. The black cobalt analogue is more simply obtained by heating [Co2(CO)g] in an inert atmosphere... 

Reduction of unsaturated aldehydes seems more influenced by the catalyst than is that of unsaturated ketones, probably because of the less hindered nature of the aldehydic function. A variety of special catalysts, such as unsupported (96), or supported (SJ) platinum-iron-zinc, plalinum-nickel-iron (47), platinum-cobalt (90), nickel-cobalt-iron (42-44), osmium (<55), rhenium heptoxide (74), or iridium-on-carbon (49), have been developed for selective hydrogenation of the carbonyl group in unsaturated aldehydes. None of these catalysts appears to reduce an a,/3-unsaturated ketonic carbonyl selectively. 

In the early work on the thermolysis of metal complexes for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles, the precursor carbonyl complex of transition metals, e.g., Co2(CO)8, in organic solvent functions as a metal source of nanoparticles and thermally decomposes in the presence of various polymers to afford polymer-protected metal nanoparticles under relatively mild conditions [1-3]. Particle sizes depend on the kind of polymers, ranging from 5 to >100 nm. The particle size distribution sometimes became wide. Other cobalt, iron [4], nickel [5], rhodium, iridium, rutheniuim, osmium, palladium, and platinum nanoparticles stabilized by polymers have been prepared by similar thermolysis procedures. Besides carbonyl complexes, palladium acetate, palladium acetylacetonate, and platinum acetylac-etonate were also used as a precursor complex in organic solvents like methyl-wo-butylketone [6-9]. These results proposed facile preparative method of metal nanoparticles. However, it may be considered that the size-regulated preparation of metal nanoparticles by thermolysis procedure should be conducted under the limited condition. 

The carbonylation of methanol was developed by Monsanto in the late 1960s. It is a large-scale operation employing a rhodium/iodide catalyst converting methanol and carbon monoxide into acetic acid. An older method involves the same carbonylation reaction carried out with a cobalt catalyst (see Section 9.3.2.4). For many years the Monsanto process has been the most attractive route for the preparation of acetic acid, but in recent years the iridium-based CATIVA process, developed by BP, has come on stream (see Section 9.3.2) ... 

Meanwhile, Wacker Chemie developed the palladium-copper-catalyzed oxidative hydration of ethylene to acetaldehyde. In 1965 BASF described a high-pressure process for the carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid using an iodide-promoted cobalt catalyst (/, 2), and then in 1968, Paulik and Roth of Monsanto Company announced the discovery of a low-pressure carbonylation of methanol using an iodide-promoted rhodium or iridium catalyst (J). In 1970 Monsanto started up a large plant based on the rhodium catalyst. 

Of the three catalytic systems so far recognized as being capable of giving fast reaction rates for methanol carbonylation—namely, iodide-promoted cobalt, rhodium, and iridium—two are operated commercially on a large scale. The cobalt and rhodium processes manifest some marked differences in the reaction area (4) (see Table I). The lower reactivity of the cobalt system requires high reaction temperatures. Very high partial pressures of carbon monoxide are then required in the cobalt system to... 

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. 

In support of the previous statement that iridium has a lower predisposition to form bridging carbonyl bonds compared to cobalt and rhodium, in this case, only three of the fifteen carbonyl groups assume a doubly bridging disposition whereas all the others have a terminal arrangement. 

Catalysts Prepared from Metal Carbonyls of Croup 9 Cobalt, Rhodium and Iridium... 

ClBF4IrOP C37H3i, Iridium(III), carbonyl-chlorohydrido[tetrafluoroborato-(1 - )]bis(triphenylphosphine)-, 26 117 ClBF4IrOP2C38H33, Iridium(III), carbonyl-chloromethyl[tetrafluoroborato-(1 -)]bis(triphenylphosphine)-, 26 118 CICoP3CMH45, Cobalt, chlorotris-(triphenylphosphine)-, 26 190 ClF PtSCi M, Platinum(II), chlorobis-(triethylphosphine) (trifluoro-methanesulfonato)-ds-, 26 126... 

In (1) the electrolytic process, a nickel of 99.9% purity is produced, along with slimes which may contain gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, and cobalt, which are subject to further refining and recovery. In (2) the Mond process, the nickel oxide is combined with carbon monoxide to form nickel carbonyl gas, Ni(CO)4. The impurities, including cobalt, are left as a solid residue. Upon fuitlier heating of the gas to about 180°C, the nickel carbonyl is decomposed, the freed nickel condensing on nickel shot and the carbon monoxide recycled. The Mond process also makes a nickel of 99.9% purity. 

Reaction (78) regenerates Mel from methanol and HI. Using a high-pressure IR cell at 0.6 MPa, complex (95) was found to be the main species present under catalytic conditions, and the oxidative addition of Mel was therefore assumed to be the rate determining step. The water-gas shift reaction (equation 70) also occurs during the process, causing a limited loss of carbon monoxide. A review of the cobalt-, rhodium- and iridium-catalyzed carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid is available.415... 

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