Hydroformylation- reaction

Bach H, Gick W, Konkol W and Wiebus E 1988 The Ruhrchemie/Rhone-Poulenc (RHV/RP) process-latest variant of the fifty-year-old hydroformylation reaction Proc. 9th Int. Congr. on Catalysis vol 1, pp 254-9... 

The 0X0 or hydroformylation reaction was discovered in Germany in 1938 (10) and was first used on a commercial scale by the Enjay Chemical Company (now Exxon) in 1948. By 1990 the total world alcohol capacity based on this general technology was over four million metric tons per year (see Oxo... 

Aliphatic Aldehyde Syntheses. Friedel-Crafts-type aUphatic aldehyde syntheses are considerably rarer than those of aromatic aldehydes. However, the hydroformylation reaction of olefins (185) and the related oxo synthesis are effected by strong acid catalysts, eg, tetracarbonylhydrocobalt, HCo(CO)4 (see Oxo process). 

Polyquiaolines have been used as polymer supports for transition-metal cataly2ed reactions. The coordinatkig abiUty of polyqukioline ligands for specific transition metals has allowed thek use as catalysts ki hydroformylation reactions (99) and for the electrochemical oxidation of primary alcohols (100). 

The mechanism of the cobalt-cataly2ed oxo reaction has been studied extensively. The formation of a new C—C bond by the hydroformylation reaction proceeds through an organometaUic intermediate formed from cobalt hydrocarbonyl which is regenerated in the aldehyde-forrning stage. The mechanism (5,6) for the formation of propionaldehyde [123-38-6] from ethylene is illustrated in Figure 1. 

Meth5l-l,3-propanediol is produced as a by-product. The hydroformylation reaction employs a rhodium catalyst having a large excess of TPP (1) and an equimolar (to rhodium) amount of 1,4-diphenylphosphinobutane (DPPB) (4). Aqueous extraction/decantation is also used in this reaction as an alternative means of product/catalyst separation. 

Eatty alcohols, prepared from fatty acids or via petrochemical processes, aldol or hydroformylation reactions, or the Ziegler process, react with ammonia or a primary or secondary amine in the presence of a catalyst to form amines (10—12). 

The composition of the products of reactions involving intermediates formed by metaHation depends on whether the measured composition results from kinetic control or from thermodynamic control. Thus the addition of diborane to 2-butene initially yields tri-j iAbutylboraneTri-j -butylborane. If heated and allowed to react further, this product isomerizes about 93% to the tributylborane, the product initially obtained from 1-butene (15). Similar effects are observed during hydroformylation reactions however, interpretation is more compHcated because the relative rates of isomerization and of carbonylation of the reaction intermediate depend on temperature and on hydrogen and carbon monoxide pressures (16). 

The hydroformylation reaction is carried out in the Hquid phase using a metal carbonyl catalyst such as HCo(CO)4 (36), HCo(CO)2[P( -C4H2)] (37), or HRh(CO)2[P(CgH3)2]2 (38,39). The phosphine-substituted rhodium compound is the catalyst of choice for new commercial plants that can operate at 353—383 K and 0.7—2 MPa (7—20 atm) (39). The differences among the catalysts are found in their intrinsic activity, their selectivity to straight-chain product, their abiHty to isomerize the olefin feedstock and hydrogenate the product aldehyde to alcohol, and the ease with which they are separated from the reaction medium (36). 

With Unsaturated Compounds. The reaction of unsaturated organic compounds with carbon monoxide and molecules containing an active hydrogen atom leads to a variety of interesting organic products. The hydroformylation reaction is the most important member of this class of reactions. When the hydroformylation reaction of ethylene takes place in an aqueous medium, diethyl ketone [96-22-0] is obtained as the principal product instead of propionaldehyde [123-38-6] (59). Ethylene, carbon monoxide, and water also yield propionic acid [79-09-4] under mild conditions (448—468 K and 3—7 MPa or 30—70 atm) using cobalt or rhodium catalysts containing bromide or iodide (60,61). 

Garbonylation of Olefins. The carbonylation of olefins is a process of immense industrial importance. The process includes hydroformylation and hydrosdylation of an olefin. The hydroformylation reaction, or oxo process (qv), leads to the formation of aldehydes (qv) from olefins, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and a transition-metal carbonyl. The hydro sdylation reaction involves addition of a sdane to an olefin (126,127). One of the most important processes in the carbonylation of olefins uses Co2(CO)g or its derivatives with phosphoms ligands as a catalyst. Propionaldehyde (128) and butyraldehyde (qv) (129) are synthesized industrially according to the following equation ... 

The nickel or cobalt catalyst causes isomerization of the double bond resulting in a mixture of C-19 isomers. The palladium complex catalyst produces only the 9-(10)-carboxystearic acid. The advantage of the hydrocarboxylation over the hydroformylation reaction is it produces the carboxyUc acids in a single step and obviates the oxidation of the aldehydes produced by hydroformylation. 

In 1996, consumption in the western world was 14.2 tonnes of rhodium and 3.8 tonnes of iridium. Unquestionably the main uses of rhodium (over 90%) are now catalytic, e.g. for the control of exhaust emissions in the car (automobile) industry and, in the form of phosphine complexes, in hydrogenation and hydroformylation reactions where it is frequently more efficient than the more commonly used cobalt catalysts. Iridium is used in the coating of anodes in chloralkali plant and as a catalyst in the production of acetic acid. It also finds small-scale applications in specialist hard alloys. 

Sodium pyrazolate and 3,5-dimethylpyrazolate, [( " -cod)Rh(/A-Cl)]2, carbon monoxide, 3-(diphenylphosphino)benzoic acid, or (2-formylphenyl)diphenyl-phosphine give rise to complexes 120 (R = H, Me) and 121 (R = H, Me) [94JOM(469)213]. However, 2-(diphenylphosphino)benzoic acid (the carboxyl group in the ortho position) leads to formation of the mononuclear complexes 122. The products appear to be catalysts for hydroformylation reactions [93MI2]. 

Since then, water has emerged as a useful solvent for organometallic catalysis. In addition to the hydroformylation reactions, several other industrial processes... 

In the aqueous biphasic hydroformylation reaction, the site of the reaction has been much discussed (and contested) and is dependent on reaction conditions (temperature, partial pressure of gas, stirring, use of additives) and reaction partners (type of alkene) [35, 36]. It has been suggested that the positive effects of cosolvents indicate that the bulk of the aqueous liquid phase is the reaction site. By contrast, the addition of surfactants or other surface- or micelle-active compounds accelerates the reaction, which apparently indicates that the reaction occurs at the interfacial layer. 

Synthesis gas is an important intermediate. The mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen is used for producing methanol. It is also used to synthesize a wide variety of hydrocarbons ranging from gases to naphtha to gas oil using Fischer Tropsch technology. This process may offer an alternative future route for obtaining olefins and chemicals. The hydroformylation reaction (Oxo synthesis) is based on the reaction of synthesis gas with olefins for the production of Oxo aldehydes and alcohols (Chapters 5, 7, and 8). 

Synthesis gas is also an important building block for aldehydes from olefins. The catalytic hydroformylation reaction (Oxo reaction) is used with many olefins to produce aldehydes and alcohols of commercial importance. 

A simplified mechanism for the hydroformylation reaction using the rhodium complex starts by the addition of the olefin to the catalyst (A) to form complex (B). The latter rearranges, probably through a four-centered intermediate, to the alkyl complex (C). A carbon monoxide insertion gives the square-planar complex (D). Successive H2 and CO addition produces the original catalyst and the product ... 

BASF is operating a semicommercial plant for the production of adipic acid via this route.A new route to adipic acid occurs via a sequential carbonylation, isomerization, hydroformylation reactions.The following illustrates these steps ... 

If cobalt carbonylpyridine catalyst systems are used, the formation of unbranched carboxylic acids is strongly favored not only by reaction of a-olefins but also by reaction of olefins with internal double bonds ( contrathermo-dynamic double-bond isomerization) [59]. The cobalt carbonylpyridine catalyst of the hydrocarboxylation reaction resembles the cobalt carbonyl-terf-phos-phine catalysts of the hydroformylation reaction. The reactivity of the cobalt-pyridine system in the hydrocarboxylation reaction is remarkable higher than the cobalt-phosphine system in the hydroformylation reaction, especially in the case of olefins with internal double bonds. This reaction had not found an industrial application until now. 

Figure 24 Phosphine-based dendrimers prepared from T8[CH = CH2]8 and used in the hydroformylation reaction.

Scheme 9.1 General hydroformylation reaction showing all possible product types...

Hydroaminomethylation is hydroformylation coupled to amine-aldehyde condensation followed by hydrogenation. The hydroformylation reaction establishes... 

The chemo- and regioselectivities of hydroformylation reactions of open chain, conjugated dienes using the usual catalyst are, in most cases, rather low [36]. The rhodium/ mesitylene co-condensate (catalyst A), in the presence of bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, DPPE, catalyses the hydroformylation of 1,3-butadiene, isoprene, and E,Z)-, 3-pentadiene to the corresponding p,y-unsaturated monoaldehydes, with unusually high chemo- and regioselectivities (Scheme 17). 

The adoption of a second liquid phase has also proved useful in the hydroformylation reaction of propylene for which Ruhrchemie and Rhone-Poulenc have used Rh based water... 

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