Water/Oil Biphasic Hydroformylation of Higher Olefins over a TPPTS-Rh/SiO2 Catalyst

A novel TPPTS-Rh/SiO2 catalyst, prepared by directly modifying a heterogeneous highsurface-area Rh/SiO2 catalyst with water-soluble TPPTS ligands, could decrease the resistance of mass transfer in water/oil biphasic media for the hydroformylation of higher olefins. The catalytic performance for hydroformylation on this biphasic TPPTS-Rh/SiO2 catalyst system was higher than those of the traditional biphasic HRhCO(TPPTS)3 systems, owing to the chemical bonds between the highly dispersed Rh metal particles and the TPPTS ligands. The catalyst system is applicable for hydroformylation of higher olefins such as 1-dodecene.