Hydroaminomethylation of high alkenes with dual-metal catalysts in aqueous/organic biphasic system

The water-soluble rhodium and iridium dual metal catalysts, RhCl(CO)(TPPTS) 2 and IrCl(CO)(TPPTS) 2 [TPPTS: P(m-C 6 H 4 SO 3 Na) 3 ], were used in the hydroaminomethylation of high alkenes in aqueous/organic two-phase system in the presence of the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB).Higher activity and especially better chemoselectivity for amine were achieved under milder conditions compared with the sole use of rhodium or iridium catalyst.The combination of rhodium and iridium complexes accelerated the hydroaminomethylation, while excess of iridium complexes led to a decrease of reactivity.