This review describes the development of supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) materials as novel hydroformylation catalysts. Ligand-modified rhodium catalysts can be immobilized in a thin film of ionic liquid, which itself is dispersed on a porous material. The solid SILP catalysts have been improved with respect to activity, selectivity, and stability. In addition, their applicability in continuous gas-phase processes opens new opportunities for improved chemical production routes.

Process intensification is a cornerstone to achieve a significant reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the chemical industry. In this context, a monolithic membrane reactor combining homogeneous catalytic...

The application of C1‐symmetrical diphosphite ligands containing furanose backbone in the Rh‐catalysed asymmetric hydroformylation of norbornene is described. The catalysts were highly active and produced exclusively exo‐norbornanecarboxaldehyde with enantioselectivities (ee) up to 71 %. Considering these promising results, the ligands were modified with a pyrene moiety to accomplish their immobilisation onto carbon materials. The corresponding Rh complexes bearing the novel pyrene‐tagged ligands were synthesised and immobilised onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and carbon beads (CBs). The novel catalytic systems were tested in the asymmetric hydroformylation of norbornene providing similar performance in terms of both activity and selectivity compared to the non‐immobilised systems. The recyclability of the new heterogenised catalysts was studied in the target reaction in batch mode. Nevertheless, the recycling was unsuccessful due to catalyst leaching. When used under continuous flow mode, these catalysts revealed robust and provided even higher ee than the corresponding homogeneous systems.

The action of the liquid catalyst phase in monolithic silicon carbide supported ionic liquid-phase (SILP) Rh-catalysts provide important insight toward industrial upscaling for gas-phase hydroformylation.