Aqueous/organic biphasic hydroformylation of 1‐octene catalyzed by Co2(CO)8/Ph2P(CH2CH2O)nMe

The aqueous/organic biphasic hydroformylation of 1‐octene catalyzed by Co₂(CO)₈/Ph₂P(CH₂CH₂O)_nMe, an in situ formed thermoregulated phase‐transfer cobalt catalyst, has been developed. The catalyst activity in this biphasic system was as high as that in the homogeneous system. The yield of oxo‐products was 93% when the reaction was carried out at 180 °C and under 4.0 MPa syngas pressure for 20 h. The catalyst could be easily recovered in the aqueous phase by decanting after the reaction system was cooled, and reused in consecutive reaction without any treatment. The loss of Co in the organic phase was less than 1% on average of five successive runs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.