Rhodium‐Catalyzed Tandem Isomerization/Hydroformylation of the Bio‐Sourced 10‐Undecenenitrile: Selective and Productive Catalysts for Production of Polyamide‐12 Precursor

The hydroformylation of 10‐undecenenitrile ( 1 ) – a substrate readily prepared from renewable castor oil – in the presence of rhodium‐phosphane catalysts systems is reported. The corresponding linear aldehyde ( 2 ) can be prepared in high yields and regioselectivities with a (dicarbonyl)rhodium acetoacetonate‐biphephos [Rh(acac)(CO) 2 ‐biphephos] catalyst. The hydroformylation process is accompanied by isomerization of 1 into internal isomers of undecenenitrile ( 1 ‐int ); yet, it is shown that the Rh‐biphephos catalyst effectively isomerizes back 1 ‐int into 1 , eventually allowing high conversions of 1 / 1 ‐int into 2 . Recycling of the catalyst by vacuum distillation under a controlled atmosphere was demonstrated over 4–5 runs, leading to high productivities up to 230,000 mol ( 2 )⋅mol (Rh) −1 and 5,750 mol ( 2 )⋅mol (biphephos) −1 . Attempted recycling of the catalyst using a thermomorphic multicomponent solvent (TMS) phase‐separation procedure proved ineffective because the final product 2 and the Rh‐biphephos catalyst were always found in the same polar phase. Auto‐oxidation of the linear aldehyde 2 into the fatty 10‐cyano‐2‐methyldecanoic acid ( 5 ) proceeds readily upon exposure to air at room temperature, opening a new effective entry toward polyamide‐12. magnified image