Selectivity cobalt catalysis

Alkanes, selective oxidation, cobalt catalysis, 44 291 Alkene... 

A breakthrough occurred in the mid-seventies when Union Carbide and Celanese introduced Rh/phosphine catalysts in commercial processes. This catalyst is based on the work by Wilkinson s group he received the Nobel prize for his work in 1973. Rhodium-based catalysts are much more active than cobalt catalysts and, under certain conditions, at least for 1-alkenes, they are also more selective. The processes for the hydroformylation of higher alkenes (detergent alcohols) still rely on cobalt catalysis. A new development is the use of water-soluble complexes obtained through sulphonation of the Ligands (Ruhrchemie). 

The addition of increasing amounts of iodine promoters accelerates the hydrocarbonylation of methanol, but at the same time detioriates the hydrogenation ability of the cobalt catalysis. To obtain a high ethanol selectivity under these conditions, catalysts active for hydrogenation in the presence of iodine have to be added. Ruthenium compounds have been proved to be most suitable, as was mentioned earlier. Althou no detailed studies on the ruthenium intermediates involved are available, it is well known that aliphatic aldehydes... 

Yu, Z., Borg, 0., Chen, D., Enger, B. C., Frpseth, V., Rytter, E., Wigum, H., and Holmen, A. 2006. Carbon nanofiber supported cobalt catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis with high activity and selectivity. Catalysis Letters 109 43 -7. 

Fig. 4 Effect of added water on the C5 + selectivity (filled symbols) and CH4 selectivity (open symbols) as a function of CO conversion at different conditions for Co/A1203 (A), CoRe/Al203 (B), Co/Si02 (C), CoRe/Si02 (D), Co/Ti02 (E), and CoRe/Ti02 (F). Before water addition ( , ), 20% water added ( , O), 33% water added (A, A) and after water addition ( , O).19 Reprinted from Journal of Catalysis, Vol. 231, S. Storsaeter, 0. Borg, E. A. Blekkan and A. Holmen, Study of the effect of water on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over supported cobalt catalysts, pp. 405-419. Copyright (2005), with permission from Elsevier.

It is now nearly 40 years since the introduction by Monsanto of a rhodium-catalysed process for the production of acetic acid by carbonylation of methanol [1]. The so-called Monsanto process became the dominant method for manufacture of acetic acid and is one of the most successful examples of the commercial application of homogeneous catalysis. The rhodium-catalysed process was preceded by a cobalt-based system developed by BASF [2,3], which suffered from significantly lower selectivity and the necessity for much harsher conditions of temperature and pressure. Although the rhodium-catalysed system has much better activity and selectivity, the search has continued in recent years for new catalysts which improve efficiency even further. The strategies employed have involved either modifications to the rhodium-based system or the replacement of rhodium by another metal, in particular iridium. This chapter will describe some of the important recent advances in both rhodium- and iridium-catalysed methanol carbonylation. Particular emphasis will be placed on the fundamental organometallic chemistry and mechanistic understanding of these processes. 

In this context, homogeneous catalysis has been increasingly used since it can offer valuable advantages, notably in terms of selectivity and efficiency. Indeed, low-valent complexes of transition metals like nickel, palladium, or cobalt can react with many functionalities, thus allowing numerous C,C-bond forming reactions. 

Recently, Corma et al. have patented a process of oxidizing cycloalkane with molecular oxygen to produce cycloalkanol and/or cycloalkanone in the presence of hydrotalcite-intercalated heteropoly anion [Co MnCo (H20)039] (M = W or Mo), which comprised one cobalt as a central atom and another as a substitute of a W=0 fragment in the Keggin structure [98]. At 130 °C and 0.5 MPa, 64 and 24% selectivity to cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol, respectively, was achieved at cyclohexane conversion about 5%. This catalytic system could be of practical importance provided a true heterogeneous nature of catalysis and good catalyst recyclability had been proved. Unfortunately, this information was lacking in [98]. 

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis making use of cobalt-based catalysts is a hotly persued scientific topic in the catalysis community since it offers an interesting and economically viable route for the conversion of e.g. natural gas to sulphur-free diesel fuels. As a result, major oil companies have recently announced to implement this technology and major investments are under way to build large Fischer-Tropsch plants based on cobalt-based catalysts in e.g. Qatar. Promoters have shown to be crucial to alter the catalytic properties of these catalyst systems in a positive way. For this reason, almost every chemical element of the periodic table has been evaluated in the open literature for its potential beneficial effects on the activity, selectivity and stability of supported cobalt nanoparticles. 

The catalysis of the selective oxidation of alkanes is a commercially important process that utilizes cobalt carboxylate catalysts at elevated (165°C, 10 atm air) temperatures and pressures (98). Recently, it has been demonstrated that [Co(NCCH3)4][(PF6)2], prepared in situ from CoCl2 and AgPF6 in acetonitrile, was active in the selective oxidation of alkanes (adamantane and cyclohexane) under somewhat milder conditions (75°C, 3 atm air) (99). Further, under these milder conditions, the commercial catalyst system exhibited no measurable activity. Experiments were reported that indicated that the mechanism of the reaction involves a free radical chain mechanism in which the cobalt complex acts both as a chain initiator and as a hydroperoxide decomposition catalyst. 

Recently, it has been discovered that catalysis by rhodium compounds is more effective than by the older cobalt catalyst when tris(triphenylphosphine)rhodium chloride is treated with carbon monoxide, the catalyst bis(triphenylphosphine)rhodium carbonyl chloride is formed. This catalyst is very effective under very mild conditions (49-51). It is believed that the tr-ir rearrangement is also important with this catalyst and operates in a manner analogous to that in the cobalt-catalyzed process, since stablization of the cr complex has been shown to lead to olefin isomerization and lower linear selectivity (52). 

The ratio of jy -epoxide (shown above) to anti-epoxide is 10—25 1 with TYZORTPT catalysis, whereas vanadylacetylacetonate is less selective and / -chloroperoxybenzoic acid gives the reverse 1 25 ratio. It is supposed that TYZOR TPT esterifies the free hydroxyl, then coordinates with the peroxide to favor syn-epoxidation (135). This procedure is related to that for enantioselective epoxidation of other allylic alcohols in 9—95% enantiomeric excess (135). Titanates trigger peroxide-initiated curing of unsaturated polyesters to give products of superior color, compared to conventional cobalt-initiated... 

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