Union Carbide hydroformylation

Sketch plausible catalytic cycles for (a) the OXO [i.e., HCo(C0)4-catalyzed] and (b) the Union Carbide hydroformylation reactions. 

Figure 3.2 Principle of the Union Carbide hydroformylation process [7], The reactands, precatalyst, and fluorous ligand in a fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon system are heated under carbon monoxide and hydrogen pressure to enable the catalyzed reaction in a homogeneous phase. On cooling the system separates and the expensive catalyst can be separated and re-used with the fluorous phase.

This process was rapidly rendered obsolete by the introduction of the low pressure process by Monsanto in 1971. The catalyst was similar to the Union Carbide hydroformylation catalyst, and was based on rhodinm caiboityl, promoted with iodine. The operating pressure was only aronnd 30-40 bar, with a... 

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. 

Isobutyraldehyde is commonly available as a by-product of propylene/Oxo hydroformylation. Methyl isoamyl ketone is used as a solvent for ceUulose esters, acryHcs, and vinyl polymers. It is available in the United States from Eastman (Kingsport, Tennessee) (47) and Union Carbide (South Charleston, West Virginia) and was priced at 1.42/kg in October 1994. 

Ligand-Modified Rhodium Process. The triphenylphosphine-modified rhodium oxo process, termed the LP Oxo process, is the industry standard for the hydroformylation of ethylene and propylene as of this writing (ca 1995). It employs a triphenylphosphine [603-35-0] (TPP) (1) modified rhodium catalyst. The process operates at low (0.7—3 MPa (100—450 psi)) pressures and low (80—120°C) temperatures. Suitable sources of rhodium are the alkanoate, 2,4-pentanedionate, or nitrate. A low (60—80 kPa (8.7—11.6 psi)) CO partial pressure and high (10—12%) TPP concentration are critical to obtaining a high (eg, 10 1) normal-to-branched aldehyde ratio. The process, first commercialized in 1976 by Union Carbide Corporation in Ponce, Puerto Rico, has been ficensed worldwide by Union Carbide Corporation and Davy Process Technology. 

Prior to 1975, reaction of mixed butenes with syn gas required high temperatures (160—180°C) and high pressures 20—40 MPa (3000—6000 psi), in the presence of a cobalt catalyst system, to produce / -valeraldehyde and 2-methylbutyraldehyde. Even after commercialization of the low pressure 0x0 process in 1975, a practical process was not available for amyl alcohols because of low hydroformylation rates of internal bonds of isomeric butenes (91,94). More recent developments in catalysts have made low pressure 0x0 process technology commercially viable for production of low cost / -valeraldehyde, 2-methylbutyraldehyde, and isovaleraldehyde, and the corresponding alcohols in pure form. The producers are Union Carbide Chemicals and Plastic Company Inc., BASF, Hoechst AG, and BP Chemicals. 

Propane, 1-propanol, and heavy ends (the last are made by aldol condensation) are minor by-products of the hydroformylation step. A number of transition-metal carbonyls (qv), eg, Co, Fe, Ni, Rh, and Ir, have been used to cataly2e the oxo reaction, but cobalt and rhodium are the only economically practical choices. In the United States, Texas Eastman, Union Carbide, and Hoechst Celanese make 1-propanol by oxo technology (11). Texas Eastman, which had used conventional cobalt oxo technology with an HCo(CO)4 catalyst, switched to a phosphine-modified Rh catalyst ia 1989 (11) (see Oxo process). In Europe, 1-propanol is made by Hoechst AG and BASE AG (12). 

When water-miscible ionic liquids are used as solvents, and when the products are partly or totally soluble in these ionic liquids, the addition of polar solvents, such as water, in a separation step after the reaction can make the ionic liquid more hydrophilic and facilitate the separation of the products from the ionic liquid/water mixture (Table 5.3-2, case e). This concept has been developed by Union Carbide for the hydroformylation of higher alkenes catalyzed by Rh-sulfonated phosphine ligand in the N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP)/water system. Thanks to the presence of NMP, the reaction is performed in one homogeneous phase. After the reaction. 

Cobalt carbonyls are the oldest catalysts for hydroformylation and they have been used in industry for many years. They are used either as unmodified carbonyls, or modified with alkylphosphines (Shell process). For propene hydroformylation, they have been replaced by rhodium (Union Carbide, Mitsubishi, Ruhrchemie-Rhone Poulenc). For higher alkenes, cobalt is still the catalyst of choice. Internal alkenes can be used as the substrate as cobalt has a propensity for causing isomerization under a pressure of CO and high preference for the formation of linear aldehydes. Recently a new process was introduced for the hydroformylation of ethene oxide using a cobalt catalyst modified with a diphosphine. In the following we will focus on relevant complexes that have been identified and recently reported reactions of interest. 

In 1992, an important breakthrough appeared in the patent literature when Babin and Whiteker at Union Carbide reported the asymmetric hydroformylation of various alkenes with ees up to 90%, using bulky diphosphites derived from homochiral (2i ,4R)-pentane-2, 4-diol, UC-PP (1 19).359 360 van Leeuwen et al. studied these systems extensively. The influence of the bridge length, of the bulky substituents and the cooperativity of chiral centers on the performance of the catalyst has been reported.217 218 221 361-363... 

Gas Recycle technology has been licensed worldwide by Union Carbide-Davy for the hydroformylation of propene.[9] It has also been operated by Union Carbide for ethene hydroformylation. Its use with butene is feasible, but at the margin of operability. Liquid Recycle, described below, is a better option for butene. 

Aldehyde dimers and trimers are common byproducts produced during the hydro formylation of propene. Union Carbide addressed the problem in a creative way when it was discovered that the dimers and trimers could be used as the principal reaction solvent for hydroformylation.[32] Elimination of an extraneous solvent simplified the process. The Ester-diol Trimers may equilibrate, as shown in Equation 2.9 to give a mixture of diol, a dimer, and the diester of the diol, which is a tetramer of butanal. 

The first report to use diphosphite ligands in the asymmetric hydroformylation of vinyl arenes revealed no asymmetric induction [46]. An important breakthrough came in 1992 when Babin and Whiteker at Union Carbide patented the asymmetric hydroformylation of various alkenes with ee s up to 90%, using bulky diphosphites 2a-c derived from homochiral (2R, 4R)-pentane-2,4-diol (Scheme 4) [17]. Their early results showed that (a) bulky substituents are required at the ortho positions of the biphenyl moieties for good regio- and enantio-selectivity and (b) methoxy substituents in the para positions of the biphenyl moieties always produced better enantio-selectivities than those observed for the corresponding ferf-butyl-substituted analogues. 

A ligand with great potential for hydroformylation of higher, terminal alkenes is monosulfonated triphenylphosphine, tppms, that was studied by Abatjoglou, also at Union Carbide [12] (section 8.2.6). In this system hydroformylation is carried out in one phase that is worked up afterwards by adding water, which gives two phases to separate catalyst and product. 

LPO process. Propene hydroformylation can be done with a rhodium triphenylphosphine catalyst giving a linearity ranging from 60 to 96 % depending on the phosphine concentration. At very high phosphine concentration the rate is low, but the linearity achieves its maximum value. The commercial process (Union Carbide Corporation, now Dow Chemicals) operates presumably around 30 bar, at 120 °C, at high triphenylphosphine concentrations, and linearities around 92%. The estimated turnover frequency is in the order of only 300 mol(product).mol 1 (Rh).h Low ligand... 

Figure 2 Union Carbide bis-phosphite ligands for normaZ-selective hydroformylation.

Table 1 Hydroformylation of 1-alkenes using Union Carbide bisphosphite ligands...

Figure 6 Union Carbide chiral bis-phosphite-rhodium complexes used as catalysts for the asymmetric hydroformylation.

Figure 5 Flow diagram of the Union Carbide Process for hydroformylation of higher olefins catalysed by Rhltppms in a single phase with biphasic catalyst separation.

Another, similar propene hydroformylation process with rhodium and monosulfonated triphenylphosphane (tppms) was reported recently by Union Carbide (139). Capacity data are not available. 

Union Carbide invented the industrial use of highly active ligand-modified rhodium complexes.90-93 [RhH(CO)(PPh3)3], the most widely used catalyst, operates under mild reaction conditions (90-120°C, 10-50 atm). This process, therefore, is also called low-pressure oxo process. Important features of the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation are the high selectivity to n-aldehydes (about 92%) and the formation of very low amounts of alcohols and alkanes. Purification of the reactants, however, is necessary because of low catalyst concentrations. 

Triphenylphosphine -rhodium complex hydroformylation catalyst systems discovered by Wilkinson and developed by Union Carbide, Davy Powergas, and Johnson Matthey... 

Three commercial homogeneous catalytic processes for the hydroformyla-tion reaction deserve a comparative study. Two of these involve the use of cobalt complexes as catalysts. In the old process a cobalt salt was used. In the modihed current version, a cobalt salt plus a tertiary phosphine are used as the catalyst precursors. The third process uses a rhodium salt with a tertiary phosphine as the catalyst precursor. Ruhrchemie/Rhone-Poulenc, Mitsubishi-Kasei, Union Carbide, and Celanese use the rhodium-based hydroformylation process. The phosphine-modihed cobalt-based system was developed by Shell specih-cally for linear alcohol synthesis (see Section 7.4.1). The old unmodihed cobalt process is of interest mainly for comparison. Some of the process parameters are compared in Table 5.1. 

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). 

Recently, Union Carbide has announced the replacement of the triphenylphos-phine ligand by bulky phosphites. The new catalysts lead to higher reaction rates, selectivity and catalyst stability and may also be of interest for the hydroformylation of 2-butenes. 

The linearity of the aldehyde product increases with the concentration of triphenyl phosphine. This is being exploited in the Union Carbide process for the hydroformylation of propene in which linearities >90% are obtained. The rate, however, drops to lower values and the most likely explanation for the higher linearities in this system would seem to be the steric congestion around the rhodium atom at high phosphine concentrations, which kinetically and thermodynamically favours the formation of linear alkyl rhodium complexes relative to branched alkyl rhodium complexes. Product linearity decreases with the number of triphenyl phosphines present in the series of precursor complexes ... 

---