Protic metal-containing ionic liquids as catalysts: Cooperative effects between anion and cation

HCo(CO)₄ is known to be the active species in the cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation reaction. Although it is known that the anion Co(CO)₄]⁻ is catalytically inactive, some cobalt carbonyl-containing ionic liquids are surprisingly able to catalyze hydroformylation reactions. However, only ionic liquids with protic cations demonstrate activity, whilst aprotic cations such as BMIM⁺ result in a completely inactive compound. The four applied cobalt-containing ionic liquids differ only by the cation component. Their different performance in catalytic activity allows the presumption of cooperative effects between the cation and the anion. These fundamental influences of the cation on the hydroformylation kinetics give hints for the reaction mechanism of biphasic hydroformylation reactions as well as on the reaction pathways of the conventional hydroformylation reaction under different reaction conditions.