Hydroformylation over Zeolite Catalysts with Solvophobic Micropores

Traditional gas-liquid-solid triphase reactions are often limited by gas solubility and diffusion in the liquid phase. We reported that a solvophobic catalyst with gas-filled micropores could enrich enormous amounts of gas molecules to accelerate Rh-catalyzed hydroformylation. This reaction used siliceous MFI zeolite fixed Rh nanoparticles in a mesitylene solvent. Owing to the shape selectivity, zeolite micropores prevent mesitylene from wetting the solid, allowing the rapid transport and efficient enrichment of gaseous reactants. This catalyst catalyzed ethylene hydroformylation with a propanal production rate significantly higher than those of the generally supported catalysts.