RHODIUM-CATALYZED MICELLAR 2-PHASE HYDROFORMYLATION OF NORMAL-TETRADEC-1-ENE WITH SURFACE-ACTIVE SULFOBETAINE DERIVATIVES OF TRIS-(2-PYRIDYL)PHOSPHANE AS HYDROSOLUBLE LIGANDS

Tetradec-1-ene as a representative of higher olefins is hydroformylated in an aqueous-organic two-phase system by means of a water-soluble catalyst consisting of Rh4(CO)12 and surface active sulfobetaine derivatives of tris(2-pyridyl)phosphine. The surfactant complex ligands are obtained by sulfoalkylation of tris(2-pyridyl)phosphine with homologous alkyl-1,2-sultones (C3 to C-14) in yields up to 84%. By variation of the sulfoalkyl chain of the surfactant phosphine, an optimal system for the biphasic hydroformylation of higher olefins is obtained. The catalytically active water-soluble rhodium carbonyl/jsurfactant-phosphine complex is quantitatively recovered by simple separation of the aqueous layer from the organic layer which contains the alpha-olefins and the products. The best yield (79%) in this rhodium-catalyzed micellar, biphasic hydroformylation of tetradec-1-ene is obtained with tris(2-pyridyl)phosphine sulfoalkylated by octane-1,2-sultone as the complex ligand.