Olefin hydroformylation and kinetic studies using mono- and trinuclear N,O-chelate rhodium(I)-aryl ether precatalysts

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.apcata.2019.117179

Rh(I)-salicylaldimine-triazole mononuclear (6) and trinuclear (7) complexes based on an aryl-ether scaffold were investigated as precatalysts in the rhodium-catalysed hydroformylation of the terminal olefin, 1-octene, and internal olefins, 7-tetradecene and 4-octene. The complexes generally show good catalytic activity in the hydroformylation of 1-octene at temperatures ranging from 75 °C to 95 °C and syngas pressures of 20 to 40 bar. The precatalysts have excellent stability and could be reused several times using organic solvent nanofiltration under optimum conditions of 85 °C and 40 bar. Kinetic studies using catalyst precursor 6 were investigated by evaluating the effect of temperature, syngas total pressure and catalyst loading on the rate of hydroformylation. The activation energy for the hydroformylation of 1-octene was calculated to be 62 kJ mol^?1 and the experimental rate constants were found to be in good agreement with the predicted rate data obtained using a modified fundamental mechanism-based rate model.