Catalysis two phase

The major advantage of the use of two-phase catalysis is the easy separation of the catalyst and product phases. FFowever, the co-miscibility of the product and catalyst phases can be problematic. An example is given by the biphasic aqueous hydro-formylation of ethene to propanal. Firstly, the propanal formed contains water, which has to be removed by distillation. This is difficult, due to formation of azeotropic mixtures. Secondly, a significant proportion of the rhodium catalyst is extracted from the reactor with the products, which prevents its efficient recovery. Nevertheless, the reaction of ethene itself in the water-based Rh-TPPTS system is fast. It is the high solubility of water in the propanal that prevents the application of the aqueous biphasic process [5]. 

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. 

Ionic liquids have already been demonstrated to be effective membrane materials for gas separation when supported within a porous polymer support. However, supported ionic liquid membranes offer another versatile approach by which to perform two-phase catalysis. This technology combines some of the advantages of the ionic liquid as a catalyst solvent with the ruggedness of the ionic liquid-polymer gels. Transition metal complexes based on palladium or rhodium have been incorporated into gas-permeable polymer gels composed of [BMIM][PFg] and poly(vinyli-dene fluoride)-hexafluoropropylene copolymer and have been used to investigate the hydrogenation of propene [21]. 

As far as industrial applications are concerned, the easy scale-up of two-phase catalysis can be illustrated by the first oxo aqeous biphasic commercial unit with an initial annual capacity of 100,000 tons extrapolated by a factor of 1 24,000 (batch-wise laboratory development production reactor) after a development period of 2 years [4]. 

Olivier H. Recent Developments in the Use of Non-Aqneons Ionic Liquids for Two-Phase Catalysis J. Mol. Catal. A Chem. 1999 146 285-289... 

The C-C coupling through aqueous two-phase catalysis, is exemplified by reaction (17), which is carried out industrially in France. Here Ru with triphenylphosphine trisulphonate (TPPT) is used. 

So far none of the industrial processes recycle the catalyst. Yet the number of ways to do this has grown far beyond simple immobilization. Two-phase catalysis now comes in many flavours. 

In Chapter 8 we will discuss the hydroformylation of propene using rhodium catalysts. Rhodium is most suited for the hydroformylation of terminal alkenes, as we shall discuss later. In older plants cobalt is still used for the hydroformylation of propene, but the most economic route for propene hydroformylation is the Ruhrchemie/Rhone-Poulenc process using two-phase catalysis with rhodium catalysts. For higher alkenes, cobalt is still the preferred catalyst, although recently major improvements on rhodium (see Chapter 8) and palladium catalysts have been reported [3],... 

Olivier, H. Recent developments in the use of non-aqueous ionic liquids for two-phase catalysis, J. Mol. Catal. A Chem., 1999,146(1-2), 285-289. 

Dendritic catalysts can be recycled by using techniques similar to those applied with their monomeric analogues, such as precipitation, two-phase catalysis, and immobilization on insoluble supports. Furthermore, the large size and the globular structure of the dendrimer can be utilized to facilitate catalyst-product separation by means of nanofiltration. Nanofiltration can be performed batch wise or in a continuous-flow membrane reactor (CFMR). The latter offers significant advantages the conditions such as reactant concentrations and reactant residence time can be controlled accurately. These advantages are especially important in reactions in which the product can react further with the catalytically active center to form side products. 

There are reports of numerous examples of dendritic transition metal catalysts incorporating various dendritic backbones functionalized at various locations. Dendritic effects in catalysis include increased or decreased activity, selectivity, and stability. It is clear from the contributions of many research groups that dendrimers are suitable supports for recyclable transition metal catalysts. Separation and/or recycle of the catalysts are possible with these functionalized dendrimers for example, separation results from precipitation of the dendrimer from the product liquid two-phase catalysis allows separation and recycle of the catalyst when the products and catalyst are concentrated in two immiscible liquid phases and immobilization of the dendrimer in an insoluble support (such as crosslinked polystyrene or silica) allows use of a fixed-bed reactor holding the catalyst and excluding it from the product stream. Furthermore, the large size and the globular structure of the dendrimers enable efficient separation by nanofiltration techniques. Nanofiltration can be performed either batch wise or in a continuous-flow membrane reactor (CFMR). 

Whether dendritic catalysis can compete successfully in commercial applications with other systems remains to be seen. Two-phase catalysis and catalysis by... 

Chauvin, Y., Mussmann, L., and Olivier, H., A novel class of versatile solvents for two-phase catalysis hydrogenation, isomerization, and hydroformylation of alkenes catalyzed by rhodium complexes in liquid 1,3-dialkylimidazolium salts, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 34, 2698-2700,1996. 

The use of two-phase catalysis in water or high-polar organic solvents is one of best approaches to clean catalytic hydrogenation (Hermann and Kohlpainter, 1993). Ionic solvents with a wide range of liquid phase (down to -81°C) based on l- -butyl-3-methylimidazolium cations can be used in these reactions. 

The reaction of l- -butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIC) with sodium tet-rafluoroborate or sodium hexafluorophosphate produced the room temperature-, air-and water-stable molten salts (BMr)(BF4 ) and (BMTXPFg ), respectively in almost quantitative yield. The rhodium complexes RhCKPPhjls and (Rh(cod)2)(BF4 ) are completely soluble in these ionic liquids and they are able to catalyze the hydrogenation of cyclohexene at 10 atm and 25°C in a typical two-phase catalysis with turnovers up to 6000 (see fig. 6.10). 

The general principle of two-phase catalysis in polar solvents, for example, in water, is shown in the simplified diagram of Fig. 1. The metal complex catalyst, which can be solubilized by hydrophilic ligands, converts the reactants A + B into the product C. The product is more soluble in the second than in the first phase and can be separated from the catalyst medium by simple phase separation. Excellent mixing and contacting of the two phases are necessary for efficient catalytic reaction, and thus the reactor is normally well stirred. 

This is the simplest case of two-phase catalysis because the solubilities of the product C and of the catalyst are so different that a nearly perfect phase separation results. This kind of process would be ideal for industrial... 

Fig. 2. (a) Simplified flow diagram for two-phase catalysis with product(s) C that is (are) soluble in the catalyst medium SI. (b) Simplified flow diagram for two-phase catalysis whereby the second phase is formed [product(s)] during the process. 

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