Rhodium olefin hydroformylations

Rhodium Ca.ta.lysts. Rhodium carbonyl catalysts for olefin hydroformylation are more active than cobalt carbonyls and can be appHed at lower temperatures and pressures (14). Rhodium hydrocarbonyl [75506-18-2] HRh(CO)4, results in lower -butyraldehyde [123-72-8] to isobutyraldehyde [78-84-2] ratios from propylene [115-07-17, C H, than does cobalt hydrocarbonyl, ie, 50/50 vs 80/20. Ligand-modified rhodium catalysts, HRh(CO)2L2 or HRh(CO)L2, afford /iso-ratios as high as 92/8 the ligand is generally a tertiary phosphine. The rhodium catalyst process was developed joindy by Union Carbide Chemicals, Johnson-Matthey, and Davy Powergas and has been Hcensed to several companies. It is particulady suited to propylene conversion to -butyraldehyde for 2-ethylhexanol production in that by-product isobutyraldehyde is minimized. 

The switch from the conventional cobalt complex catalyst to a new rhodium-based catalyst represents a technical advance for producing aldehydes by olefin hydroformylation with CO, ie, by the oxo process (qv) (82). A 200 t/yr CSTR pilot plant provided scale-up data for the first industrial,... 

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. 

Our approach is to use the inexpensive ligands that are already used industrially as well as conventional solvents. The goal of this project is to develop a thermomorphic approach to the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of higher olefins (>Ce) that enhances conversion rates and ease of product recovery while minimizing catalyst degradation and loss. 

Optically active aldehydes are important precursors for biologically active compounds, and much effort has been applied to their asymmetric synthesis. Asymmetric hydroformylation has attracted much attention as a potential route to enantiomerically pure aldehyde because this method starts from inexpensive olefins and synthesis gas (CO/H2). Although rhodium-catalyzed hydrogenation has been one of the most important applications of homogeneous catalysis in industry, rhodium-mediated hydroformylation has also been extensively studied as a route to aldehydes. 

Hydroformylation of hetero olefins such as carbonyl compounds is not known to proceed with significant levels of efficiency, whereas the hydroformylation of olefins has been developed to a sophisticated stage. Generally, aldehydes resultant from the latter process exhibit a low propensity to undergo further hydroformylation, with the exception of some activated aldehydes. The rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of formaldehyde is the key step in the synthesis of ethyleneglycol from synthesis gas. Chan et al. found... 

Both the rhodium and the cobalt complexes catalyze olefin isomerization as well as olefin hydroformylation. In the case of the rhodium(I) catalysts, the amount of isomerization decreases as the ligands are altered in the order CO > NR3 > S > PR3. When homogeneous and supported amine-rhodium complexes were compared, it was found that they both gave similar amounts of isomerization, whereas with the tertiary phosphine complexes the supported catalysts gave rather less olefin isomerization than their homogeneous counterparts (44, 45). 

Scheme 8.1 Rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of alkenes leading to linear (L) and branched (B) aldehydes and isomerized (IS) olefins.

Since the 1-olefin concentration-dependent hydroformylation in the presence of the above catalyst system has a slightly higher activation energy of about 22 kcal mol-1, it is proposed that the ratedetermining step of selective terminal 1-olefin hydroformylation may involve a transition state leading to the formation of a 1-alkyl bis-(trans-phosphine)rhodium carbonyl hydride complex rather than the dissociation of the trisphosphine complex. 

Figu re 5.3. Rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of long-chain olefins under FBS conditions (a) and in sc C02 (b). 

An example is the rhodium catalyzed hydroformylation reaction, which is an industrially important homogenous catalytic process [3]. In contrast, it is amazing that such an important transition-metal catalyzed C/C bond-forming process has been employed only rarely in organic synthesis [4]. Part of the reason stems from the difficulty in controlling stereoselectivity. Even though some recently developed chiral rhodium catalysts allow for enantio- and diastereoselective hydroformylation of certain specific classes of alkenes [5, 6], only little is known about the diastereoselective hydroformylation of acyclic olefins [7, 8]. 

Palladium complexes are generally superior catalysts for oxidation reactions, whereas other noble metals are more active for other reactions, e.g., rhodium for hydroformylation. All of these reactions seemingly involve activation of the olefin substrate by rr-complex formation with the noble metal catalyst.513 The oxidation reactions discussed in the following generally depend on nucleophilic attack on the coordinated olefins (or other hydrocarbons) to effect oxidation of the substrate. 

Cesar et al. have investigated the Berry pseudorotation prevalent in five coordinate rhodium complexes [93] (see Figure 3.27). The product distribution in the rhodium catalysed hydroformylation of 1-olefins is often dependant on the coordination pattern of the bidentate spectator ligand [53], i.e. whether it coordinates equatorial/equatorial or... 

Because of the generally excellent solubility of metal catalysts in RTILs, many of the reactions studied in these media are homogeneously metal catalysed. For example, rhodium catalysed hydroformylation reactions have been studied at length and a wide variety of phosphine ligands used. This particular reaction in RTILs has just been the subject of an extensive review. In most cases, only minimal leaching of the catalyst out of the ionic liquid phase is observed and the catalysts can be very effectively recycled. These efforts are necessary because the industrial aqueous-biphasic process (Chapter 10) only works effectively for smaller olefins and therefore alternative approaches are needed for more hydrophobic, higher-mass olefins. 

Only limited data are available for the kinetics of oxo synthesis with the water-soluble catalyst HRh(CO)(TPPTS)3. The hydroformylation of 1-octene was studied in a two-phase system in presence of ethanol as a co-solvent to enhance the solubility of the olefin in the aqueous phase [115]. A rate expression was developed which was nearly identical to that of the homogeneous system, the exception being a slight correction for low hydrogen partial pressures. The lack of data is obvious and surprising at this time, when the Ruhrchemie/ Rhone-Pou-lenc process has been in operation for more than ten years [116]. Other kinetic studies on rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation have been published, too. They involve rhodium catalysts such as [Rh(nbd)Cl]2 (nbd = norbomadiene) [117] or [Rh(SBu )(CO)P(OMe)3]2 [118], or phosphites as ligands [119, 120]. 

Hydroformylation. Although cationic complexes such as Rh(diene)(PPh3) are active for olefin hydroformylation, they are not suitable for intercalation in layered silicates, because the active species formed under hydroformylation conditions are electrically neutral (19, 20). Since neutral complexes have little or no affinity for the negatively charged silicate sheets, extensive desorption of rhodium occurs during the reaction and most of the observed catalytic activity occurs in the solution phase. 

Figure 5.8 Reaction scheme for rhodium catalysed hydroformylation of an a-olefin.

The degree of induced diastereoselectivity in the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of ( + )-(i )-l-phenylethyl vinyl ether is much higher (linear/branched 43 57, branched d.r. 81 19) than with the related alkene 4-phenyl-l-pentene (linear/branched 2 1, branched d.r. 49 51). Other chiral olefins with the stcrcogenic carbon atom directly linked to the double bond also give lower diastereoselectivities (d.r. <36 64 in all cases)102. 

Transition metal catalyzed olefin hydroformylation is an industrially important process for the production of oxygenated products.(l) Rhodiiun-catalyzed processes that enqjloy phosphorus-based ligands allow increased control of rate and regioselectivity when compared to cobalt-catalyzed processes. The first generation of rhodium catalysts was based on triarylphosphine ligands. Second genera-... 

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