Kinetics of cyclooctene hydroformylation for continuous homogeneous catalysis

Abstract

The kinetics of Rh-catalysed cyclooctene hydroformylation were investigated, based on the mechanism described for a single tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphite ligand coordinated to a rhodium center. The rate limiting step was found to be the coordination of cyclooctene to the metal center as suggested in literature. Parameters of the corresponding rate equation were estimated by nonlinear regression. Experimental data obtained from semi-batch reactions were compared with model predictions and shown to be in good agreement. A continuous jet-loop reactor with coupled nanofiltration was designed and the kinetics were validated.