Cobalt catalyzed hydroformylation

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]. 

Ruthenium- and cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation of internal and terminal alkenes in molten [PBuJBr was reported by Knifton as early as in 1987 [2]. The author described a stabilization of the active ruthenium-carbonyl complex by the ionic medium. An increased catalyst lifetime at low synthesis gas pressures and higher temperatures was observed. 

The principal product of the hydroformylation which is most desired in industrial applications is a linear aldehyde. The unmodified, cobalt-catalyzed processes produce a mixture of linear and branched aldehydes, the latter being mostly an a-methyl isomer. For the largest single application—propylene to butyraldehydes—the product composition has an isomer ratio (ratio of percent linear to percent branched) of (2.5 t.0)/l. The isobutyraldehyde cannot be used to make 2-ethylhexanol, and iso-... 

Interception of the reaction sequence at the alkylcobalt carbonyl stage before carbonyl insertion, and hydrogenation of this intermediate, produces an alkane. This undesired side reaction is only minor (1-3%) in cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation of a nonfunctional olefin, but may become predominant with phenyl- or acyl-substituted olefins. Ethylbenzene has been obtained in >50% yield from styrene (37), and even more alkane was obtained from a-methylstyrene (35). 

The most influential parameter in cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation was found to be carbon monoxide partial pressure. Piacenti et al. (30) showed this to be influential for both a- and internal olefins. Results are detailed in Tables V and VI. The percent of n-aldehyde rose rapidly as the carbon monoxide partial pressure was increased up to 30-40 atm CO further increase had little effect. 1-Pentene clearly gave a higher percentage of straight-chain aldehyde than 2-pentene, but the difference was insignificant in the lower Pco experiments. 

The cobalt-catalyzed reaction was studied by isolation of the lactones formed by hydrogenation and lactonization at higher temperatures (73). The hydroformylation was conducted at 140°C and 300 atm, followed by hydrogenation and cyclization at 200°-240°C, Eq. (33). 

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. 

Fig. 15.13 Bicyclic phosphines used in cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation.

Figure 2 shows the generally accepted dissociative mechanism for rhodium hydroformylation as proposed by Wilkinson [2], a modification of Heck and Breslow s reaction mechanism for the cobalt-catalyzed reaction [3]. With this mechanism, the selectivity for the linear or branched product is determined in the alkene-insertion step, provided that this is irreversible. Therefore, the alkene complex can lead either to linear or to branched Rh-alkyl complexes, which, in the subsequent catalytic steps, generate linear and branched aldehydes, respectively. 

The first catalyst used in hydroformylation was cobalt. Under hydroformylation conditions at high pressure of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, a hydrido-cobalt-tetracarbonyl complex (HCo(CO)4) is formed from precursors like cobalt acetate (Fig. 4). This complex is commonly accepted as the catalytic active species in the cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation entering the reaction cycle according to Heck and Breslow (1960) (Fig. 5) [20-23]. 

For this reaction, the early investigations of Reppe pointed out the need for catalyst precursors to operate at high pressure [2], It is necessary to work at 150-300 bar of CO in order to stabilize the two catalytic species [Co(H)(CO)4] or [Ni(H)(X)(CO)2] that adopt a mechanism analogous to the cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation [44,45]. Many industrial applications have been reported [28,46,47] for the synthesis of plasticizers and detergents. Similarly, the two-step methoxycarbonylation of 1,3-butadiene has been explored by BASF and other companies to produce dimethyl 1,6-hexanedioate (adipate) directly from the C4 cut [28,48]. The first step operates at 130 °C and... 

Raffinate-II typically consists of40 % 1-butene, 40 % 2-butene and 20 % butane isomers. [RhH(CO)(TPPTS)3] does not catalyze the hydroformylation of internal olefins, neither their isomerization to terminal alkenes. It follows, that in addition to the 20 % butane in the feed, the 2-butene content will not react either. Following separation of the aqueous catalyts phase and the organic phase of aldehydes, the latter is freed from dissolved 2-butene and butane with a counter flow of synthesis gas. The crude aldehyde mixture is fractionated to yield n-valeraldehyde (95 %) and isovaleraldehyde (5 %) which are then oxidized to valeric add. Esters of n-valeric acid are used as lubricants. Unreacted butenes (mostly 2-butene) are hydroformylated and hydrogenated in a high pressure cobalt-catalyzed process to a mixture of isomeric amyl alcohols, while the remaining unreactive components (mostly butane) are used for power generation. Production of valeraldehydes was 12.000 t in 1995 [8] and was expected to increase later. 

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. 

Investigations of cobalt stability as a function of catalyst concentration, temperature, and CO partial pressure have been carried out in connection with cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation (5658). The stability of Co2(CO)g in heptane is shown by Fig. 4, which relates to the equilibrium... 

In 1961 Heck and Breslow presented a multistep reaction pathway to interpret basic observations in the cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation.28 Later modifications and refinements aimed at including alternative routes and interpreting side reactions.6 Although not all the fine details of hydroformylation are equally well understood, the Heck-Breslow mechanism is still the generally accepted basic mechanism of hydroformylation.6,17,19,29 Whereas differences in mechanisms using different metal catalysts do exist,30 all basic steps are essentially the same in the phosphine-modified cobalt- and rhodium-catalyzed transformations as well. 

Despite some differences, the mechanism of rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation is very similar to that of the cobalt-catalyzed process.39-42 Scheme 7.1 depicts the so-called associative route which is operative when the ligand is in excess. Rhodium metal and many Rh(I) compounds serve as precursor to form21,22—in the presence of triphenylphosphine, CO and H2—the active species [RhH(CO)(PPh3)3] (5). At high CO partial pressure and low catalyst concentration without added PPh3, the [RhH(CO)2(PPh3)] monotriphenylphosphine complex instead of 6 coordinates the alkene and participates in the so-called dissociative route.21,39... 

The kinetics of hydroformylation by phosphine- or phosphite-modified complexes is even more complex than that of the cobalt-catalyzed reaction. Depending on the reaction conditions, either alkene complexation (Scheme 7.1, 6 to 7) or oxidative addition of hydrogen (Scheme 7.1, 9 to 10) may be rate-determining. 

Addition of modifying ligands such as tributyl phosphine affords a one-step, cobalt-catalyzed synthesis of alcohols (at lower pressure), but accompanying olefin hydrogenation reduces yields (3). With amine ligands, the effects are varied. Accelerated hydroformylation rates are possible with weak bases such as pyridine, but stronger bases (piperidine or triethylamine, for example) retard or completely inhibit the reaction (4,5). 

The present discussion is limited to the rhodium catalyzed hydroformylation. In the widely accepted mechanism proposed by Wilkinson et ah (36), on the basis of suggestions by Breslow and Heck (37) for the cobalt catalyzed hydroformylation, the reaction steps, with the exception of the hydrogenolysis of the acyl-rhodium complexes, correspond to equilibria (Scheme 10). 

It is probable that at least some of the above concepts developed for the rhodium catalysts are applicable also to cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation. 

Metal-catalyzed reactions of CO with organic molecules have been under investigation since the late 1930s and early 1940s, when Roelen (/) discovered the hydroformylation reaction and Reppe (2) the acrylic acid synthesis and other related carbonylation reactions. These early studies of the carbonyla-tions of unsaturated hydrocarbons led to extremely useful syntheses of a variety of oxygenated products. Some of the reactions, however, suffered from the serious problem that they produced isomeric mixtures of products. For example, the cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation of propylene gave mixtures of n-butyraldehyde and isobutyraldehyde. 

The oligomerization, cooligomerization and metathesis of small alkenes and alkynes and much of cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation fall within the scope of the companion work Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry and are not dealt with here. 

When P(OPh)3 was used as ligand, the effect of an excess of it on the isomer ratio was far less significant.301 These studies have led to the introduction of an industrial process for the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of propylene to n-butyraldehyde which is rapidly gaining in importance relative to the older, cobalt-catalyzed route. 2,303 The relative merits of the two processes have been discussed.303,304... 

No substantial progress has been made in the field of cobalt-catalyzed asymmetric hydroformylation since our last review on this subject1S). Besides (+)-N-(l-phenyl-ethyljsalicylaldimine, which was originally used as asymmetric ligand6, a chiral catalyst formed in situ from HCo(CO)4 and (—)-DIOP has been employed 16) (Table 1). With the latter catalytic system, optical yields of 2.7% and 1.2% have been obtained in the case of (Z)-2-butene and of bicyclo[2,2,2]oct-2-ene, respectively. 

Hydroformylation is a multistep catalytic process from the data on the cobalt-catalyzed reaction it has generally been proposed that the reaction occurs according to the scheme in Fig. 12 21). 

Godard, C., S. B. Duckett, S. Polas, R. Tooze, and A.C. Whitwood. 2005. Detection of intermediates in cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation using para-hydrogen-induced polarization. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127 4994-4995. 

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