Sustainable process development for olefin carbonylation reactions

Abstract

The development of sustainable processes and the implementation of renewable raw materials are increasingly important for the chemical industry. In particular, homogeneous catalysis is a key technology in this context since it allows for atom economic and selective syntheses under mild reaction conditions. In this work, two important tasks in process development for homogeneously catalysed carbonylation reactions were investigated: Recycling of known homogeneous transition metal catalysts Development of new catalytic systems for the conversion of substrates based on renewable raw materials in tandem reactions As a recycling strategy for homogeneous transition metal catalysts, the use of thermomorphic multicomponent solvent (TMS) systems was systematically investigated in four steps: 1. Development of a new solvent selection strategy for TMS systems 2. Application of TMS systems in the conversion of technical grade feedstocks 3. Application of TMS systems in the conversion of renewable feedstocks 4. Application of TMS systems in reactions with inherently limited degrees of freedom in the solvent choice The results of these investigations led to the development of a guideline for process development for homogeneously catalyzed reactions in thermomorphic multicomponent solvent systems. Three new catalytic systems were developed for the conversion of substrates based on renewable raw materials in tandem hydroformylations. In the hydroaminomethylation and the reductive hydroformylation, two of the novel catalyst systems allow for a direct conversion of the intermediately formed aldehydes. This makes their purification superfluous, which is of great advantage from an economic and ecologic point of view. The newly developed catalyst system for the isomerising hydroformylation of unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters opens a new way for the synthesis of valuable products from renewable raw materials.