Anisole: a further step to sustainable hydroformylation

Abstract

Hydroformylation, also known as the “oxo” process, is a major industrial process that employs rhodium or cobalt catalysts in solution; therefore the solvent of this process is a critical issue for its sustainability. Although several innovative solutions have been proposed recently, traditional fossil-derived solvents dominate the scenario for this reaction. In this paper, we studied a series of solvents considered more sustainable in recent ranks in the hydroformylation of a series of olefins. Anisole, a solvent with an impressive sustainability rank and very scarcely exploited in hydroformylation, proved to be an excellent alternative for this reaction.