Hydroformylation cobalt catalysis

In the case of rhodium as a catalyst metal for the hydroformylation of methyl oleate, lower pressure and lower temperature have to be compared to cobalt catalysis [20, 21], The use of rhodium is also advantageous because of the lower isomerization. Frankel showed that with a rhodium triphenylphosphine catalyst, hydroformylation occurs only on the ninth and tenth carbon atoms of the methyl oleate [22]. 

A breakthrough occurred in the mid-seventies when Union Carbide and Celanese introduced Rh/phosphine catalysts in commercial processes. This catalyst is based on the work by Wilkinson s group he received the Nobel prize for his work in 1973. Rhodium-based catalysts are much more active than cobalt catalysts and, under certain conditions, at least for 1-alkenes, they are also more selective. The processes for the hydroformylation of higher alkenes (detergent alcohols) still rely on cobalt catalysis. A new development is the use of water-soluble complexes obtained through sulphonation of the Ligands (Ruhrchemie). 

Using phosphite-modified rhodium catalysts, otherwise unreactive alkenes, such as 2-methyl-l-hexene, limonene and cyclohexene, are hydroformylated under mild conditions. " 2-Methyl-1-hexene, for example, yields almost exclusively 3-methylheptaldehyde, which is in contrast to the result of cobalt catalysis where a compound with a quaternary carbon is formed (Scheme 12). 

The properties of polyurethanes derived from the hydroformylation of fatty acid derivatives, subsequent hydrogenation, and reaction with isocyanates such as toluene diisocyanate (TDl), methylene diphenyl-4,4-diisocyanate (MDI), and 1,6-hexamethylenediisocyanate (HDI) may be strongly dependent on the metal used for the hydroformylation [12a, 62]. At high conversion rates with a rhodium catalyst, a rigid polyurethane A is formed, whereas under the conditions of cobalt catalysis and low conversion a hard rubber or rigid plastic (polyurethane B) with lower mechanical strength results (Scheme 6.100). 

To summarize, applications of NHC-cobalt complexes in homogeneous catalysis only emerged a few years ago, with emphasis on the comparison between NHC and phosphine ligands in known cobalt catalysis such as the Pauson-Khand or hydroformylation reactions. However, it appears that the introduction of NHCs in cobalt catalysts may lead to interesting and previously unknown patterns of reactivity. For this reason and in view of the accelerating research activity since 2007/2008, a growing interest in NHC-cobalt catalysis is expected. 

In contrast to triphenylphosphine-modified rhodium catalysis, a high aldehyde product isomer ratio via cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation requires high CO partial pressures, eg, 9 MPa (1305 psi) and 110°C. Under such conditions alkyl isomerization is almost completely suppressed, and the 4.4 1 isomer ratio reflects the precursor mixture which contains principally the kinetically favored -butyryl to isobutyryl cobalt tetracarbonyl. At lower CO partial pressures, eg, 0.25 MPa (36.25 psi) and 110°C, the rate of isomerization of the -butyryl cobalt intermediate is competitive with butyryl reductive elimination to aldehyde. The product n/iso ratio of 1.6 1 obtained under these conditions reflects the equihbrium isomer ratio of the precursor butyryl cobalt tetracarbonyls (11). 

The first example of homogeneous transition metal catalysis in an ionic liquid was the platinum-catalyzed hydroformylation of ethene in tetraethylammonium trichlorostannate (mp. 78 °C), described by Parshall in 1972 (Scheme 5.2-1, a)) [1]. In 1987, Knifton reported the ruthenium- and cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation of internal and terminal alkenes in molten [Bu4P]Br, a salt that falls under the now accepted definition for an ionic liquid (see Scheme 5.2-1, b)) [2]. The first applications of room-temperature ionic liquids in homogeneous transition metal catalysis were described in 1990 by Chauvin et al. and by Wilkes et ak. Wilkes et al. used weekly acidic chloroaluminate melts and studied ethylene polymerization in them with Ziegler-Natta catalysts (Scheme 5.2-1, c)) [3]. Chauvin s group dissolved nickel catalysts in weakly acidic chloroaluminate melts and investigated the resulting ionic catalyst solutions for the dimerization of propene (Scheme 5.2-1, d)) [4]. 

The need for higher product specificity and milder reaction conditions (see also Section IX) has led to extensive research in hydroformylation technology. This research, as reported in technical journals, patent literature, and commercial practice has been primarily concerned with catalysis by rhodium, in addition to the traditional cobalt, and with catalyst modification by trialkyl or triaryl phosphines. These catalyst systems form the basis for the major portion of the discussion in this chapter some other catalyst systems are discussed in Section VIII. 

Branching at an olefinic carbon atom inhibited the reaction markedly, the most dramatic case being that of 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene. It should be noted that the product in this case is nearly exclusively 3,4-dimethylpen-taldehyde for either cobalt or rhodium catalysis (7). Thus, a general rule that products containing a formyl group attached to a quaternary carbon atom are not formed (49) remains valid. Hydroformylation proceeds only after isomerization has occurred. 

With cobalt catalysts, hydroformylation of ethyl cinnamate gave 91% of the hydrogenation product ethyl hydrocinnamate (15) and only 8% of the expected lactone, 16 (72). However, rhodium catalysis was effective in directing the reaction in favor of hydroformylation (70). The comparative results obtained with cobalt and rhodium are outlined in Table XXV. 

The cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation of acrolein diacetate in ethanol proceeded in a complicated fashion. The products obtained are listed in Table XXVI. These products are rationalized by the following sequence The initial products formed were m-aldehyde (l,l-diacetoxy-3-formylpro-pane, ca. 60%), isoaldehyde (1,1 -diacetoxy-2-formylpropane, 5-10%) and propionaldehyde diacetate, ca. 5%. In the alcohol solvent, the aldehydes were converted to the corresponding acetals. A portion of the n-aldehyde was converted to 2,5-diethoxytetrahydrofuran by acid catalysis, and the isoaldehyde was thermally decomposed to 2-methyl-3-acetoxyacrolein. 

In Chapter 8 we will discuss the hydroformylation of propene using rhodium catalysts. Rhodium is most suited for the hydroformylation of terminal alkenes, as we shall discuss later. In older plants cobalt is still used for the hydroformylation of propene, but the most economic route for propene hydroformylation is the Ruhrchemie/Rhone-Poulenc process using two-phase catalysis with rhodium catalysts. For higher alkenes, cobalt is still the preferred catalyst, although recently major improvements on rhodium (see Chapter 8) and palladium catalysts have been reported [3],... 

Derivatives of the steroids androstene and pregnene have been transformed directly into A-acyl amino acids by an orthogonal catalysis procedure, utilizing [RhCl(nbd)]2 and Co2(CO)8 (Scheme 11). The rhodium phosphine catalyst (generated in situ in the presence of syn-gas and phosphine) affects hydroformylation of the internal olefin to generate aldehyde. In the presence of Co2(CO)8, A-acyl amino acids are obtained as the major products. An unstable amido alcohol intermediate, formed by reaction of the amide with aldehyde, is proposed to undergo cobalt-catalyzed GO insertion to yield the desired A-acyl amino acid. 

An alternative interpretation of some features of the hydroformylation reaction (including the inverse CO dependence), in terms of heterogeneous catalysis by an (unidentified) insoluble cobalt component, has recently been advanced by Aldridge, Fasce and Jonassen (49a). The universal validity of this seems doubtful in the light of the considerable evidence favoring a homogeneous mechanism. 

Relatively few hydroformylations using supported cobalt complexes have been reported. Moffat (78, 79) showed that poly-2-vinylpyridine reversibly reacted with both Co2(CO) and HCo(CO)4, the cobalt carbonyl being displaced by excess carbon monoxide. This enabled the polymer to pick up the cobalt carbonyl at the end of the reaction and, thus, allowed it to be separated from the products by filtration. The polymer acted as a catalyst reservoir by rapidly releasing the cobalt carbonyl into solution in the presence of further carbon monoxide, so that the actual catalysis was a homogeneous process. More recently, cobalt carbonyl has been irreversibly bound to a polystyrene resin... 

Transition metal carbonyls and their derivatives are remarkably effective and varied in their ability to catalyze reactions between unsaturated molecules (e.g., CO and olefinic compounds) or between certain saturated and unsaturated molecules (e.g., olefins and H2 or H20). The carbonyl derivatives of cobalt are particularly active catalysts for such reactions and have been put to use in the industrial synthesis of higher aliphatic alcohols. In fact, much of the growth in knowledge concerning catalysis by metal carbonyls has been stimulated by the industrial importance of the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, and by the economically less important, but chemically more tractable, hydroformylation reaction. 

This chapter has focused on heterogeneous catalysis in supercritical media, but the relationship between supercritical fluids and catalysis is much broader. There have been numerous studies of homogeneous catalysis in SCFs. Examples include hydroformylation via cobalt carbonyl complexes in supercritical CO2, oxidation via metal salts dissolved in supercritical water, and acid-catalyzed dehydration of alcohols in supercritical water. 

For hydroformylation over cobalt and rhodium zeolites the active species have not been defined. However, in the case of RhNaY the in situ formation of a rhodium carbonyl cluster has been identified (226) by infrared spectroscopy. Interestingly, this cluster appears to be different from known compounds such as Rh4(CO)12 and Rh6(CO)16. This does suggest that alternative carbonyl clusters may possibly be formed in zeolites due to the spatial restrictions of the intracrystalline cavities. The mechanism of hydroformylation in these zeolites is probably similar to that known for homogeneous catalysis. 

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