Biphasic hydroformyltation of olefins catalyzed by supported or soluble rhodium (I) catalyst: Activity and recyling

Hydroformylation of olefins is versatile method and well-established industrial process for the production of aldehydes using transition metal complexes as homogeneous catalysts. Rhodium (I) complexes are the most active and selective catalysts for hydroformylation reaction. The thermomorphic approach was applied to rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of higher olefins (C>6). The effect of CO/H₂ pressure, ligand/catalyst ratio on activity, selectivity, and recycling were studied on 1-octene. The thermomorphic biphasic hydroformylation of 1-octene led to very high conversions of alkenes and very excellent selectivity to the desired linear isomer. This selectivity depended on the amount of P(OPh)₃, total pressure of CO/H₂, ratio of CO/H₂, reaction time, and temperature. MCM-ATPES-PTA-Rh is a novel and interesting heterogeneous catalyst for the hydroformylation of alkenes due to its high stability and recycling ability. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 15th Annual Saudi-Japanese Symposium: Catalysts in Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia 11/27-28/2005).