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Home-Made Syn-Gas: Hardware And Application To The Hydroformylation Of Styrene

Mauro Marchetti, Elisabetta Alberico, Stefano Paganelli

Home production of syn-gas by ruthenium catalyzed decomposition of methylformate or paraformaldeyde avoids gas storage and compression and it is well suited for top-bench hydroformylation. The rhodium catalyzed hydroformylation of styrene in the presence of syn-gas generated from decomposition of methylformate either at 140°C or 180°C showed a very low chemoselectivity, substrate hydrogenation being the prevailing reaction. Better results were obtained by using a CO/H2 mixture generated from decomposition of paraformaldeide although, in order to obtain an almost complete chemoselectivity to oxo-aldehydes, the syn-gas generating reaction and the hydroformylation of styrene had to be carried out in two different autoclaves.