Linear selective hydroformylation alkenes

Recently, a new bidentate hemispherical chelating bisphosphite ligand based on a calixarene backbone has been designed for linear selective hydroformylation of alkenes (Scheme 9) [54], Excellent levels of regioselectivity have been observed, and even the intrinsic branched-selective hydroformylation of styrene could be overruled by this system. However, the system suffers from low catalytic activity. 

The combination of rhodium dicarbonyl acetylacetonate complex (Rh(acac)(CO)2) and a diphosphite ligand, (2,2 -bis[(biphenyl-2,2 -dioxy)phosphinoxy]-3,3 -di-/i t/-butyl-5,5 -dimethoxy-l,T-biphenyl (BIPHEPHOS), is an excellent catalyst system for the linear-selective hydroformylation of a wide range of alkenes. This catalyst system has been successfully applied to the cyclohydrocarbonylation reactions of alkenamides and alkenylamines, which are employed as key steps for the syntheses of piperidine,indolizidine, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids. ... 

In terms of achieving enantioselectivity, whereas a range of hgands will generally have to be screened, quite a wide range of alkene structures has been hydroformylated with reasonable enantioselectivity in recent years. An exception (at present) is the enantioselective construction of chiral centers 3 to the formyl group by a linear selective hydroformylation of a 1,1 -alkene. 

It can therefore be noted that linear-selective hydroformylation of terminal alkyl-alkenes has been developed to the stage where it can be used as a functional group tolerant C—C bond forming reaction in organic synthesis. 

Given the previous discussion on reductive amination, it is surprising that the potentially more complicated domino hydroformylation-reductive amination reactions have been more thoroughly developed. The first example of hydroaminomethylation was reported as early as 1943 [83]. The most synthetically useful procedures utilize rhodium [84-87], ruthenium [88], or dual-metal (Rh/Ir) catalysts [87, 89, 90]. This area was reviewed extensively by one of the leading research groups in 1999 [91], and so is only briefly outlined here as the second step in the domino process is reductive amination of aldehydes. Eilbrachfs group have shown that linear selective hydroaminomethylation of 1,2-disubstituted alkenes... 

Although early catalysts were based on cobalt, nowadays, rhodium catalysts are preferred because they require lower pressure and afford higher chemo- and regioselectivity [1,2]. In recent years, extensive research into the production of only linear aldehydes has provided impressive results. The application of phosphines with a wide bite angle in the rhodium catalyzed hydroformylation of terminal alkenes enable the regioselectivity to be almost totally controlled [3]. Branched selective hydroformylation, al-... 

Recently, rhodium/poly(enolate-co-vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate) catalysts have been developed for the biphasic hydroformylation of aliphatic alkenes and applied to the selective hydroformylation of functionalized alkenes [16], Although the conversions were low (< 25%), excellent selectivities for the hydroformylation of n-bu-tyl vinyl ether and methyl 3,3-dimethylpenten-4-onate can be achieved with such water-soluble polymer-anchored rhodium catalysts. For instance, the hydroformylation of methyl 3,3-dimethylpenten-4-onate gives only the linear aldehyde. 

The asymmetric hydroformylation of alkenes is an exceptionally atom-efficient method for the synthesis of enantiomerically-pure carbonyl-containing compounds.[1] The hydroformylation of vinylacetate, in particular, represents an excellent method for the preparation of ot-alkoxy aldehydes and, through their reduction, homochiral 1,2-diols. The use of the novel chiral ligand, ESPHOS (1),[2] in a rhodium(I) complex, results in hydroformylation of vinyl acetate in high branched linear selectivity and exceptional ee (Figure 12.1).[3]... 

In the hydroformylation of terminal olefins, superior results in comparison to BISBI at higher temperature were noted l/b = 54.2 in comparison to BISBI Hb = 2.4) [66]. Moreover, with these tetraphosphines more than 95% linear selectivity and up to 94% yield of total aldehydes starting from 2-alkenes (2-pentene, 2-hexene, 2-octene) were observed in isomerizing hydroformylation [67]. The M-regioselectivity increased in relation to the nature of Ar in the following order, indicating a remarkable electronic effect ... 

The catalytic hydroformylation of alkenes has been extensively studied. The selective formation of linear versus branched aldehydes is of capital relevance, and this selectivity is influenced by many factors such as the configuration of the ligands in the metallic catalysts, i.e., its bite angle, flexibility, and electronic properties [152,153]. A series of phosphinous amide ligands have been developed for influencing the direction of approach of the substrate to the active catalyst and, therefore, on the selectivity of the reaction. The use of Rh(I) catalysts bearing the ligands in Scheme 34, that is the phosphinous amides 37 (R ... 

Selectivity refers to the fraction of raw material alkene that is converted to product aldehyde, but since hydroformylation typically gives both a linear and branched isomer, selectivity also refers to the relative amounts of each. The linear branched (l b) ratio is highly catalyst dependant. One must simultaneously consider whether the proposed catalyst will give the desired l b selectivity and also whether the proposed catalyst is feasible for use with the catalyst/product separation technologies. For example, water extraction of a polar product, such as in the hydroformylation of allyl alcohol to give 4-hydroxybutanal, would not work well with a sodium salt of a sulfonated phosphine since both are water soluble. 

The method of catalyst immobilisation appeared to affect its performance in catalysis. Catalyst obtained by method II showed a low selectivity in the hydroformylation of 1-octene (l b aldehyde ratio was even lower than 2) at a very high rate and high yields of isomerised alkenes (Table 3.2, entry 2), whereas procedure IV resulted in a catalyst that was highly selective for the linear aldehyde (with a l b ratio of 37) (entry 5). In accordance with examples from literature it is likely that procedure II gave rise to the ionic bonding of ligand-free rhodium cations on the slightly acidic silica surface [29],... 

TABLE 3.6. Comparison of the activity and selectivity in the hydroformylation of linear alkenes using homogeneous [HRh(CO)(PPh3)3] and [HRh(CO)(PPh3)3] encapsulated in MCM-48 a... 

During a 33 h continuous hydroformylation run using this set-up, no catalyst decomposition was observed and Rh leaching into the scC02/product stream was less than 1 ppm. The selectivity for the linear nonanal was found to be stable over the reaction time with n/iso = 3.1. During the continuous reaction, alkene, CO, H2 and C02 were separately fed into the reactor containing the ionic liquid catalyst solution. Products and unconverted feedstock dissolved in SCCO2 were removed from the ionic liquid. After decompression the liquid product was collected and analysed. 

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. 

Internal alkenes. Dibenzophosphole- and phenoxaphosphino substituted xantphos ligands 31 and 32 [62] (Figure 8.14) show a high activity and selectivity in the rhodium catalysed linear hydroformylation of 1-octene (l b = > 60). More importantly, ligands 31 and 32 exhibit an unprecedented high activity and selectivity in the hydroformylation of trans 2- and 4-octene to linear nonanal. 

They constitute the first rhodium phosphine modified catalysts for such a selective linear hydroformylation of internal alkenes. The extraordinary high activity of 32 even places it among the most active diphosphines known. Since large steric differences in the catalyst complexes of these two ligands are not anticipated, the higher activity of 32 compared to 31 might be ascribed to very subtle bite angle effects or electronic characteristics of the phosphorus heterocycles. 

In the hydroformylation of alkenes, the major differences between the [RhH(CO)(PPh3)3], and [RhH(CO)(TPPTS)3] catalysts are the lower activity and higher selectivity of the water-soluble complex in aqueous/organic biphasic systems. Lower activity is not unexpected, since alkenes have limited solubility in water (see 4.1.1.1, Table 3). On the other hand, the higher selectivity towards formation of the linear product deserves more scrutiny. 

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