Rhodium sulfonated phosphine ligand

The synthesis of aldehydes via hydroformylation of alkenes is an important industrial process used to produce in the region of 6 million tonnes a year of aldehydes. These compounds are used as intermediates in the manufacture of plasticizers, soaps, detergents and pharmaceutical products [7], While the majority of aldehydes prepared from alkene hydroformylation are done so in organic solvents, some research in 1975 showed that rhodium complexes with sulfonated phosphine ligands immobilized in water were able to hydroformylate propene with virtually complete retention of rhodium in the aqueous phase [8], Since catalyst loss is a major problem in the production of bulk chemicals of this nature, the process was scaled up, culminating in the Ruhrchemie-Rhone-Poulenc process for hydroformylation of propene, initially on a 120000 tonne per year scale [9], The development of this biphasic process represents one of the major transitions since the discovery of the hydroformylation reaction. The key transitions in this field include [10] ... 

An aqueous two-phase hydroformylation went on stream at Ruhrchemie AG in 1984 (fourth generation) at their site in Oberhausen/Germany with an annual capacity of 100 kt/a [1]. The current capacity is 500kt/a. The Rh catalyst is immobilized in the aqueous phase. A sulfonated phosphine ligand (TPPTS, trisodium salt of 3,3, 3 Lphosphinidynetris(benzenesulfonic acid) confers the metal catalyst with high solubility in water. The catalyst is removed into the aqueous phase before distillation of the product, which avoids thermal stress. The loss of rhodium is in the range of parts per billion. 

As Monflier and coworkers [48] have shown, the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of triglycerides in water pressure can be supported by the addition of randomly methylated P-cyclodextrines (RAME-P-CDs). Syngas pressure (20-80 bar), temperature (50-80 °C), nature of the sulfonated phosphine ligand, and the amount of R AME-P-CD had a profound influence of the catalytic results. 

A review on the use of ionic liquids in hydroformylation was authored by Hau-mann and Riisager in 2008 [92]. The first attempt dedicated to hydroformylation can be traced back to a publication of Chauvin etal. in 1996 [93]. They transformed 1-pentene into hexanal with a PPhg-modified rhodium catalyst in [BMlM][PFg] (Scheme 7.15). The replacement of PPhg by sulfonated phosphine ligands (TPPMS or TPPTS) lowered the activity of the catalyst but allowed a more complete recovery of the catalyst after the reaction. In general, low -regioselectivities resulted. 

Considerable work has been conducted on a water-soluble catalyst using sulfonated phosphine-modified rhodium. Details of this chemistry will be described in Chapter 5. The general concept (Figure 2.3) is to make the catalyst water soluble, then after product formation, decant the product. In order for the water-soluble catalyst to be effective, the alkene must dissolve in the aqueous layer. This has been demonstrated on a commercial basis using propene. The low solubility of higher alkenes in the aqueous catalyst layer has proven problematic. The desirable characteristic of the ligand, water solubility, is needed in the separation step but is a disadvantage in the reaction step. 

The commercial success of rhodium-trisulfonated triphenylphosphine (TPPTS) catalysts1 has prompted considerable interest in TPPTS and other water-soluble ligands.2 The potential for new applications for the synthesis of both bulk and fine chemicals in water has led to methods for the preparation of a wide variety of sulfonated phosphines including chiral phosphines3 and... 

Water soluble ligands greatly facilitate catalyst separation. Examples are (22-XLI)174 and (22-XLII),175 which are used in hydroformylations and hydrogenation catalysis, respectively. Rhodium complexes of the sulfonated phosphine (22-XLI) are used in the production of butyraldehyde, a large-scale process developed by Ruhrchemie/Rhone-Poulenc.174... 

The use of triphenylphosphine as ligand led to acceptable rates in ILs, but with high rhodium leaching into the organic phase. Recourse to sulfonated phosphines such as monosulfonated triphenylphosphine retained the catalyst in the ionic liquid phase but decreased its activity significantly. This drawback was surmounted by the use of 47 (Table 1.5), which was derived from a simple cation metathesis reaction between TPPTS (37) and 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimi-dazolium chloride [bdmim][Cl] in acetonitrile. 

Researchers have worked to alleviate the problems of separation and corrosion in processes such as the oxo process by designing catalysts that are confined in a separate phase from the reactants (see Section 14.2.4). A commercially successful approach for propene hydroformylation resulted from preparation of water-soluble rhodium complex catalysts by sulfonation of the phenyl rings of the triphenyl phosphine ligands. The catalyst is used in a reactor with two liquid phases the propene is concentrated in the organic phase and the catalyst in the aqueous phase near the interface. The CO -I- H2 is bubbled into a mixed reactor, and the two-phase liquid product flows to a settler the organic product flows to downstream separation devices, and the aqueous phase with the catalyst is recycled to the reactor. 

The fact that water-soluble sulfonated phosphines may combine the properties of a ligand and a surfactant in the same molecule was first mentioned in 1978 by Wilkinson etal. [11] in their study of the hydroformylation of 1-hexene using rhodium and ruthenium catalysts modified with TPPMS (triphenylphosphine mono-... 

If higher concentrations of aqueous sodium hydroxide (15%) are used, all of the re-immobilized ligands and the rhodium complex can be extracted into the aqueous phase. This can thus be submitted to the oxidative treatment for Rh recovery according to [34-36]. In this way, 92-95% of the Rh content may be recovered. The amine content of the organic phase was used again by treatment with fresh sulfonated phosphine and sulfuric acid. In the subsequent hydroformylation the same results were actually observed. 

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