Advancing the Aqueous Biphasic Hydroformylation of Oleochemicals in the Loop: Continuous Reaction and Separation using a Jet-Loop Reactor Concept

The hydroformylation of renewable oleochemicals in aqueous liquid-liquid multiphase systems was operated continuously using a jet-loop reactor concept, demonstrated in two case studies. The main challenge on this path was to find an optimal compromise between activity and catalyst retention. In Case 1, methyl oleate was converted in an isopropanol/water system with stationary yields of up to 35% in more than 55 hours of continuous operation at low catalyst loss of only 0.1%/h and very high selectivity. In Case 2, a reaction system consisting of butanol/water was used to convert methyl 10-undecenoate. Fine-tuning of the substrate loading and separation temperature was required. Under optimised reaction conditions, steady-state yields of >80% were achieved in a campaign of >55 hours of continuous operation. As little as 16.7 mg of rhodium was leached per kilogram of product formed at excellent selectivities to the linear product. This is the first time a miniplant concept has been presented that enables the hydroformylation of these two renewables in continuous operation.