Rhodium complex catalysts supported complexes

Polymer-supported catalysts incorporating organometaUic complexes also behave in much the same way as their soluble analogues (28). Extensive research has been done in attempts to develop supported rhodium complex catalysts for olefin hydroformylation and methanol carbonylation, but the effort has not been commercially successful. The difficulty is that the polymer-supported catalysts are not sufftciendy stable the valuable metal is continuously leached into the product stream (28). Consequendy, the soHd catalysts fail to eliminate the problems of corrosion and catalyst recovery and recycle that are characteristic of solution catalysis. 

The same authors recently described the synthesis of similar rhodium-complexed dendrimers supported on a resin having both interior and exterior functional groups. These were tested as catalysts for the hydroformylation of aryl alkenes and vinyl esters (52). The results show that the reactions proceeded with high selectivity for the branched aldehydes, with excellent yields, even up to the tenth cycle. The hydroformylation experiments were carried out with first- and a second-generation rhodium-complexed dendrimers as catalysts, with a mixture of 34.5 bar of CO and 34.5 bar of H2 in dichloromethane at room temperature. Each catalyst was easily recovered by simple filtration and was reusable for at least six more cycles without... 

It is also remarkable that the rhodium complex catalyst in the supported ionic liquid showed long-term stability, being used for 18 batches without any significant loss of activity. It was confirmed that no rhodium metal clusters were formed. However, acetone could be used to remove the ionic layer and its presence led to a total loss of activity. 

Chiyoda and UOP jointly developed an improved methanol carbonyl-ation process on the basis of this supported rhodium complex catalyst the process is called the Acetica process. This process for the production of acetic acid has found several industrial applications in Asia. The process description emphasizes the use of a three-phase reactor, a bubble column, or gas-lift reactor. The reactor column contains a liquid, a solid catalyst, and a bubbling gas stream containing CO efficient dissolution of the gas in the liquid is ensured by the design, which minimizes gas-liquid mass transfer resistance. 

Liquid phase carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid with a rhodium complex catalyst is a well known process (ref. 1). The authors have found that group 8 metals supported on carbonaceous materials exhibit excellent activity for the vapor phase carbonylation of methanol in the presence of iodide promoter(ref. 5). Especially, a nickel on active carbon catalyst gave acetic acid and methyl acetate with the selectivity of 95% or higher at 100% methanol conversion under 10 atm and 250 °C. In the present study it has been found that a small amount of hydrogen which is always contained in the commercially available CO and requires much cost for being removed completely, accelerates greatly the carbonylation reaction. 

Platinum and rhodium complex catalysts can be immobilized on organic polymers or on silica. Various organic and inorganic supports have been studied ". ... 

Rhodium-complexed dendrimers supported on a resin were evaluated as catalysts for the hydroformylation of aryl olefins and vinyl esters. Up to 99% yields and an outstanding selectivity for the branched aldehydes (up to 38 1) were obtained at room temperature and 69 bar CO H2 = 1 1. The dendritic catalysts were recycled by simple filtration and reused even up to the 10th cycle without any loss of activity and selectivity ]82]. 

This is an ion-exchanger like the sulfonated polymer. The siUca surface can also be functionalized with phosphine complexes when combined with rhodium, these give anchored complexes that behave like their soluble and polymer-supported analogues as catalysts for olefin hydrogenation and other reactions ... 

Catalyst Reactivation Using Propargyl Acetate. The Wiped-Film Evaporator/02 reactivation procedure and the Capture of Active Catalyst Using Solid Acidic Support with FI2 Elution procedure (see above) both involve the separation of uncomplexed phosphine from rhodium complex. Since the value of the uncomplexed phosphine is significant, technology that does not require separation of phosphine during catalyst reactivation is desirable. 

In subsequent work the same supported catalysts were used in different reactor setups [20] (Figure 3.3). A vapour-phase reactor in which the supported catalyst was mounted on a bed was used for the hydroformylation of volatile alkenes such as cis-2-butene and trifluoropropene. The initial activities and selectivity s were similar to those of the homogeneous solutions, i.e. a TOF of 114 and 90% ee in the hydroformylation of trifluoropropene was reported. No rhodium was detected in the product phase, which means less then 0.8% of the loaded rhodium had leached. The results were, however, very sensitive to the conditions applied and, especially at longer reaction times, the catalyst decomposed. In a second approach the polymer supported complex was packed in a stainless steal column and installed in a continuous flow set-up. 

An anionic rhodium iodide carbonyl complex was supported on polyvinylpyrrolidone for the carbonylation of methanol in the presence of scC02 [98], Depending on the reaction conditions and method of extraction, less than 0.08% rhodium leaching was observed. Saturation of the support with methyl iodide was found to be vital to enhance the longevity and recyclability of the catalyst. 

Some general reviews on hydrogenation using transition metal complexes that have appeared within the last five years are listed (4-7), as well as general reviews on asymmetric hydrogenation (8-10) and some dealing specifically with chiral rhodium-phosphine catalysts (11-13). The topic of catalysis by supported transition metal complexes has also been well reviewed (6, 14-29), and reviews on molecular metal cluster systems, that include aspects of catalytic hydrogenations, have appeared (30-34). 

Fig. 41.13 Supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) catalyst. The ionic liquid phase containing a rhodium complex is immobilized on the surface of a silica gel support material.

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