A mini review on strategies for heterogenization of rhodium-based hydroformylation catalysts

Hydroformylation has been widely used in industry to manufacture high value-added aldehydes and alcohols, and is considered as the largest homogenously catalyzed process in industry. However, this process often suffers from complicated operation and the difficulty in catalyst recycling. It is highly desirable to develop a heterogeneous catalyst that enables the catalyst recovery without sacrificing the activity and selectivity. There are two strategies to afford such a catalyst for the hydrofromylation: immobilized catalysts on solid support and porous organic ligand (POL)-supported catalysts. In the latter, high concentration of phosphine ligands in the catalyst framework is favorable for the high dispersion of rhodium species and the formation of Rh-P multiple bonds, which endow the catalysts with high activity and stability respectively. Besides, the high linear regioselectivity could be achieved through the copolymerization of vinyl functionalized bidentate ligand (vinyl biphephos) and monodentate ligand (3vPPh3) into the catalyst framework. The newly-emerging POL-supported catalysts have great perspectives in the industrial hydroformylation.