Roelen, Otto

Hydroformylation is the oldest and in production volume the largest homogeneously catalyzed industrial process. The hydroformylation reaction was discovered by Otto Roelen in 1938 the reaction is also called oxosynthesis and Roden s reaction [1-13]. 

The hydroformylation of alkenes, which was originally discovered by Otto Roelen in 1938 [1], has developed into one of the most important applications of homogeneous catalysis in industry (Scheme 1) [2,3]. Today, more than 9 million tons of so-called oxo-products are produced per year, a number which is still rising continuously. The majority of these oxo-products stem... 

The hydroformylation reaction was discovered by Otto Roelen in 1938 (2,3) while investigating the influence of olefins on the Fischer-Tropsch reaction (/). Particularly in commercial publications, it has been termed the oxo reaction the more proper term, hydroformylation, was proposed by Adkins (4). 

The reaction between alkenes and synthesis gas (syngas), an equimolar mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, to form aldehydes was discovered in 1938 by Otto Roelen [1,2]. Originally called oxo-reaction , hydroformyla-tion is the term used today. This reflects the formal addition of formaldehyde to the olefinic double bond. Commercially, homogeneous metal complexes based on cobalt and rhodium are used as catalysts. With more than 10 million metric tons of oxo products per year, this reaction represents the most important use of homogeneous catalysis in the chemical industry. 

The hydroformylation of olefins discovered by Otto Roelen [ 151 ] is one of the most important industrial homogeneously catalyzed reactions [152,153] for the synthesis of aldehydes with an estimated production of more than 9.2 million t in 1998 [ 153]. Hydroformylation is the addition of hydrogen and carbon monoxide to a C,C double bond. Industrial processes are based on cobalt or rhodiiun catalysts according to Eq. 1. The desired products are linear (n-) and branched (i-) aldehydes, in which the hnear products are generally favored for subsequent processing. 

The oxo synthesis (hydroformylation), which was discovered by Otto Roelen in 1938 at Ruhrchemie AG, is one of the most important metal-complex-catalyzed reactions of alkenes. Today, the worldwide capacity for oxo products is about 6 million tons/year. 

The hydroformylation reaction (Scheme 2.1), originally discovered by Otto Roelen in 1938 [33], is an industrial process of strategic importance for the manufacture of aldehydes from olefins and syngas. 

Hydroformylation is a precious metal-catalyzed reaction of synthesis gas, a 1 1 mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and an olefinic organic compound to form aldehydes. The reaction was discovered by Otto Roelen in 1938 in experiments for the Fischer-Tropsch reaction [8]. In Scheme 3, hydroformylation of a terminal olefin is shown in which the addition of carbon monoxide can be conducted at both carbon atoms of the double bond, thus yielding linear (n) and branched (iso) aldehydes. 

The oxo process, discovered in Germany by Otto Roelen, was a breakthrough method of producing primary monohydric alcohols. 

During World War II the reaction known as the oxo reaction was developed in Germany by Otto Roelen and co-workers of Ruhrchemie at Oberhausen-Holten. The reaction originally consisted of the treatment of an olefin with water gas (CO + H2) in the presence of a cobalt catalyst to produce a mixture of isomeric aldehydes containing one carbon atom more than the starting compound ... 

Otto Roelen at Ruhrchemie AG discovered the hydroformylation or oxo reaction in 1938. As shown by reaction 5.1, the basic reaction is the addition of a hydrogen atom and a formyl group to the double bond of an alkene. The reaction works efficiently, mainly with terminal alkenes. With an optimal choice of ligands and process conditions, very high selectivity (>95%) for the desired isomer of the aldehyde could be achieved. 

Otto Roelen and Walter Reppe Industrial Applications of Metal Carbonyls... 

B. Cornils, W. A. Herrmann, and M. Rasch, Otto Roelen, Pioneer in Industrial Homogeneous Catalysis, Angew. Chem. Ini. Ed. Engl. 33, 2144-2163 (1994). 

The hydroformylation of alkenes, discovered by Otto Roelen of Ruhrchemie in 1938, is one of the most important homogeneously catalyzed reactions. The name hydroformylation refers to the effective addition of a hydrogen atom and a formyl (CHO) group to a C=C double bond of an olefin the reaction is also known under its older name of the oxo reaction. 

This reaciion was discovered in the late 1930s by Otto Roelen of Ruhrehemie, who was working on Fischer-Tropsch4ype chemistry. He found that alkencs can be converted to aldehydes by treatment with CO and H2 in the presence of a cobalt catalyst at elevated temperatures and pressures 12—14]. Today, in terms of product volume, hydroformylation represents one of the largest industrial applications of soluble transition metal catalysts. 

Even before any real understanding of hydride chemistry had been obtained, aUcene Hydroformylation (also see Oxo Process), a catalytic reaction involving hydride intermediates, was being practiced on an industrial scale (Otto Roelen, Ruhrchemie, 1938) (equation 16). 

It is hence not surprising that Otto Roelen s initial investigations into homogeneous coordination catalysts in oxo synthesis proved a source of much frustration (reviewed in [3]). It was only the work of Adkins and Krsek [6], Storch et al. [7], Berty and Markd [8] and Natta [9] that confirmed oxo catalysts to be homogeneous in nature. The intense activity associated with hydroformylation and oxo... 

Oxo reaction. A U.S. patent filed in 1938 by the German Otto Roelen and issued in 1943 disclosed the addition to an olefin of carbon monoxide and hydrogen under catalysis by cobalt, thorium oxide, or kieselguhr. The reaction was at first described as an oxo synthesis, but after Adkins and Krsek had examined the... 

Hydroformylation or oxosynthesis is a well-known homogeneous, transition metal catalyzed reaction which has known considerable and continuous development since its discovery by Otto Roelen in the laboratories of Ruhrchemie AG in 1938 [1], This reaction, which can be considered as the addition of a formyl group and hydrogen to a double bond, has been successfully applied in the industrial context by using two basic processes the homogeneous process where the rhodium or cobalt catalyst and the substrate are in the same phase (Shell, UCC, BASF, RCH processes) [2] and the aqueous/organic biphasic process where the water-soluble rhodium catalyst and the organic compounds are in two different phases (Ruhr-chemie/Rhone-Poulenc process) [3]. 

Backgroxmd. Otto Roelen of Ruhrchemie, Germany, was chiefly responsible for development of the Oxo process. Some early work by Smith and his coworkers at the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1930 had indicated that an increased yield of oxygenated compounds, as compared with conventional fischer-Tropsch practice, was obtmned when ethylene was added to water gas in the presence of cobalt catalyst at 200-225 C and atmospheric pressure. Roelen modified the operating conditions significantly and found that, at temperatures below 200°C "and pressures of 100-200 atm, all liquid products from the reaction of ethylene and water gas were oxygenated. He showed that the reaction could be applied generally to the formation of aldehydes from olefins and filed patents on the process as early as 1938. ... 

With the same aim in mind of obtaining valuable products from low molecular compounds, Otto Roelen (33) of Ruhrchemie discovered the 0X0 synthesis in 1935 see Table I). 

The 0X0 synthesis was discovered by Dr. Otto Roelen in 1938 in the Ruhr-chemie laboratories in Oberhausen-Holten, West Germany [9]. The first commercial plant, however, was commissioned in the United States in 1948. Since then, oxo alcohol facilities have been built all over the world. Europe leads the world in total production, followed closely by the United States. Japan and the rest of Asia are the next largest producers, but the range of products produced in Asia is relatively narrow. 

The hydroformylation reaction was discovered in 1938 by Otto Roelen in the Ruhrchemie laboratories at Oberhausen (Germany) [1, 2], Since that day, hydroformylation has become a widely studied and interesting reaction for both academic and industrial researchers. This reaction consists formally in the transformation of olefins under carbon monoxide and hydrogen pressure leading to linear and branched aldehydes as primary products (see Section 2.4.1.1). The interest of such a reaction resides in the formation from an olefin of a new carbon-carbon bond with the introduction of a carbonyl function which can be easily transformed into different products of industrial interest like detergents, plasticizers, and pharmaceutical products. The overall production capacity of oxo products was estimated to be aroimd 10 million tons per year in 2001 and this production is still increasing. 

---