Industrial Relevance of Hydroformylation

Hydroformylation was discovered in 1938 at the company Ruhrchemie in Ober-hausen, Germany by Otto Roden (1897-1993) in the context of investigations to optimize the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FT synthesis) for fuel production from coal based syngas (Section 6.11.1). Otto Roden realized at the time that the formation of C3-oxoproducts in the FT synthesis was due to the reaction of ethylene with syngas. 

Apart from propene, a large number of C2-C17 olefins (including branched and internal ones) are applied industrially as hydroformylation feedstock depending on the market needs for the respective aldehydes and their subsequent product chains. 

A very important general aspect of hydroformylation catalysis is the fact that the regioselectivity of the reaction is usually of great importance for the economic value of the generated products. Typically, the linear product enjoys a much higher market value than the branched one. This point can be exemplified for both the hydroformylation of propene and that of 1-dodecene. While the lower vapor pressure of the resulting plasticizer alcohol defines the higher 

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