Homogeneously Catalyzed Reactions

The discovery of the above-mentioned class of highly efficient alkyne carbonylation catalysts originated from a general study of reactions homogeneously catalyzed by cationic metal complexes [6, 8, 9], e. g., the methoxycarbonylation of propyne (eq. (2)). The catalysts applied were cationic palladium phosphine systems prepared in situ from three components (1) palladium acetate, (2) an excess (10-40-fold on Pd) of a (mono)phosphine ligand(L) and (3) an acid (HX) [8]. Methanol was used as both reactant and solvent, but many other solvents can also be used, such as A-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) or product MMA. 

The techniques of Cylindrical Internal Reflectance (CIR) and Diffuse Reflectance spectroscopies are described herein. The CIR phenomenon was employed in three different apparatus. Two different high pressure CIR cells were used to study reactions homogeneously catalyzed by [y-HW2(CO)10]-. Low temperature reactions of Mo and W complexes were studied using an ambient pressure CIR cell. The diffuse reflectance technique was employed to study powdered samples of Ru carbonyl complexes supported on A1203. 

Figures 4.11.6 and 4.11.7 show the classification of laboratory-scale reactors by their mode of operation. For liquid-liquid reactions, homogeneously catalyzed reactions...

Optically inactive starting materials can give optically active products only if they are treated with an optically active reagent or if the reaction is catalyzed by an optically active substance The best examples are found m biochemical processes Most bio chemical reactions are catalyzed by enzymes Enzymes are chiral and enantiomerically homogeneous they provide an asymmetric environment m which chemical reaction can take place Ordinarily enzyme catalyzed reactions occur with such a high level of stereo selectivity that one enantiomer of a substance is formed exclusively even when the sub strate is achiral The enzyme fumarase for example catalyzes hydration of the double bond of fumaric acid to malic acid m apples and other fruits Only the S enantiomer of malic acid is formed m this reaction... 

Copper—cadmium and zinc—chromium oxides seem to provide most selectivity (38—42). Copper chromite catalysts are not selective. Reduction of red oil-grade oleic acid has been accompHshed in 60—70% yield and with high selectivity with Cr—Zn—Cd, Cr—Zn—Cd—Al, or Zn—Cd—A1 oxides (43). The reduction may be a homogeneously catalyzed reaction as the result of the formation of copper or cadmium soaps (44). 

Fig ure 3-11. Rate constants for a homogeneous catalyzed reaction from a series of experiments with different catalyst concentrations. 

In comparison to heterogeneous catalyzed reactions, homogeneous catalysis offers several important advantages. The catalyst complex is usually well defined and can be rationally optimized by ligand modification. Every metal center can be active in the reaction. The reaction conditions are usually much milder (T usually < 200 °C), and selectivities are often much higher than with heterogeneous catalysts. 

These advantages notwithstanding, the proportion of homogeneous catalyzed reactions in industrial chemistry is still quite low. The main reason for this is the difficulty in separating the homogeneously dissolved catalyst from the products and by-products after the reaction. Since the transition metal complexes used in homogeneous catalysis are usually quite expensive, complete catalyst recovery is crucial in a commercial situation. 

One of the key factors controlling the reaction rate in multiphasic processes (for reactions talcing place in the bulk catalyst phase) is the reactant solubility in the catalyst phase. Thanks to their tunable solubility characteristics, the use of ionic liquids as catalyst solvents can be a solution to the extension of aqueous two-phase catalysis to organic substrates presenting a lack of solubility in water, and also to moisture-sensitive reactants and catalysts. With the different examples presented below, we show how ionic liquids can have advantageous effects on reaction rate and on the selectivity of homogeneous catalyzed reactions. 

The metathesis reaction of alkenes constitutes a major development in the field of hydrocarbon chemistry in recent years. The first examples of the heterogeneously and the homogeneously catalyzed metathesis of linear alkenes have been published by Banks and Bailey (I) and Calderon et al. (2), respectively. By this reaction, linear alkenes are converted with high selectivity into equimolar amounts of two new alkenes, according to ... 

Instead ef the name metathesis, the term disproportionation is frequently applied to the reaction, and sometimes the term dismutation. For historical reasons the name disproportionation is most commonly used for the heterogeneously catalyzed reaction, while the homogeneously catalyzed reaction is usually designated as metathesis. The name disproportionation is correct in the case of the conversion of acyclic alkenes according to Eq. (1) however, this name is inadequate in most other situations, such as the reaction between two different alkenes, and reactions involving cycloalkenes. Similar objections apply to the name dismutation. The name metathesis is not subject to these limitations and, therefore, is preferred. 

To conclude this chapter, we shall return to homogeneously catalyzed reactions. It is useful to consider the case in which two substrates are catalytically converted to products. For the net reaction... 

Generally, the above transesterification reactions are catalyzed by strong acids or alkalis [1, 2]. In the homogeneous catalytic process by acids or alkalis, neutralization is required of the product. This post-treatment produces waste water, and increases equipment investment and production cost. Recently, more attention has been paid to the heterogeneous catalysis process [3] for an easier production process and to reduce pollution of the environment. 

The homogeneously catalyzed oxidation of butyraldehyde to butyric acid is a well-characterized gas/Hquid reaction for which kinetic data are available. It thus serves as a model reaction to evaluate mass transfer and reactor performance in general for new gas/liquid micro reactors to be tested. This reaction was particularly used to validate a reactor model for a micro reactor [9, 10]. 

Both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts have been found which allow the hydroamination reaction to occur. For heterogeneously catalyzed reactions, it is very difficult to determine which type of activation is involved. In contrast, for homogeneously catalyzed hydroaminations, it is often possible to determine which of the reactants has been activated (the unsaturated hydrocarbon or the amine) and to propose reaction mechanisms (catalytic cycles). 

Although the oxidative addition of the N-H bond of NH3 and amines to transition metal complexes had been known for some time [140], it was only in the late 1980s that Milstein et al. succeeded in designing a homogeneously catalyzed hydroamina-tion reaction involving such an activation process (Eq. 4.27) [141]. 

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]. 

Romanainen, J.J and Salmi T (1992) The Effect of Reaction Kinetics, Mass Transfer and Flow Pattern on Noncatalytic and Homogeneously Catalyzed Gas-Liquid Reactions in Bubble Columns, Chem Eng Sci, 47 2493. 

Like many homogeneously catalyzed reactions, the overall cycle (or cycles) in these polymerization reactions probably contains too many steps to be easily analyzed by any single approach. Both kinetics and model compound studies have thrown light on some of the steps. However, as indicated above, many of the model compounds isolated from the reactions of primary silanes with metallocene alkyls and hydrides are too unreactive to explain the polymerization results. 

This should be compared with the hydrogen uptake curve for the corresponding 10,000 TON homogeneously catalyzed reactions shown in Figure... 

TON reactions it contained 4 pmoles of the complex. The corresponding homogeneously catalyzed reactions run at these higher pressures all gave products with ee s in the 60 - 65% range. 

The Henry reaction is catalyzed in homogeneous solution with various catalysts, as shown in Eq. 3.1. 

Yields were high (up to 97%) and comparable with those of homogeneously catalyzed reactions. A much higher catalyst-to-substrate ratio had to be used with heterogeneous alumina (10-15) than with the homogeneous catalysts (0.015-0.050), however. It was concluded that the microwave method led to considerable improvement of acetalization reactions, compared with conventional methods. 

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