Phosphorus Ligands in Hydroformylation and Hydrogenation: A Personal Account

Metal-catalyzed hydroformylation and hydrogenation heavily rely on ligands, among which phosphorous ligands play a pivotal role. This personal account presents a selection of three distinct classes of phosphorous ligands, namely, monodentate meta-substituted phosphinites, bis-phosphites, and P-chiral supramolecular phosphines, developed in our group. The synthesis of these ligands, isolation, characterization, and their performance in transition metal-catalyzed hydroformylation, isomerizing hydroformylation, and asymmetric hydrogenation of olefins is summarized. The state of the art development in iron-catalyzed hydroformylation of alkenes and our contributions to the field is discussed. Use of phosphines enabled iron-catalyzed hydroformylation of alkenes under mild conditions. Thus, this account demonstrates the central role of phosphorus ligands in industrially relevant transformations such as hydrogenation and hydroformylation. The seemingly matured field of ligand discovery still holds significant potential and will steer the field of homogeneous catalysis.