Hydroformylation over Zeolite Catalysts with Solvophobic Micropores
Yuexin Wu, Zhiqiang Liu, Hai Wang, Hui Shi, Wentao Yuan, Yong Wang, Yifeng Liu, Yating Lv, Xuedi Qin, Anmin Zheng, Liang Wang, Feng‐Shou Xiao
Abstract
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.