“On-water” rhodium-catalysed hydroformylation for the production of linear alcohols

Abstract

Optimisation of the reaction conditions for the rhodium-catalysed aldehyde hydrogenation under hydroformylation conditions showed that water used as co-solvent enhances both rate and selectivity towards primary alcohols. One-pot hydroformylation–hydrogenation using rhodium as the only transition metal yielded alcohols in excellent selectivities and good linearities.