Carbonylation of 1-hexene catalyzed by cis-[Rh(CO)2(amine)2](PF6) complexes in aqueous tetrabutylammonium hydrogensulfate solutions

In this work, carbonylation of 1-hexene to heptanoic acid and heptanal catalyzed by rhodium(I) complexes, cis-[Rh(CO)2(amine)2](PF6) (amine = pyridine, 2-picoline, 3-picoline, 4-picoline, 3,5-lutidine or 2,6-lutidine) dissolved in aqueous solution of tetrabutylammonium hydrogensulfate (N(C4H9)4HSO4), under carbon monoxide atmosphere, is described. Gaseous by-products (H2 and CO2) from the catalysis of the water-gas shift reaction (WGSR) were also produced. The reaction products distribution depends on the nature of the coordinated amine to the rhodium center. The effects of variation of CO pressure, temperature, catalyst concentration, 1-hexene/Rh molar ratio and N(C4H9)4HSO4 amount, on the reaction rates were also examined.