【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】The Shanxi Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, makes new progress in the hydroformylation of α-olefins

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Recently, the team led by Researcher Zhang Bin from the Shanxi Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, made new progress in the hydroformylation of α-olefins. The research findings were published in the renowned journal in the field of catalysis, ACS Catalysis, under the title “Mo₂C Morphology Dependence in Co-Mo₂C Interface Structure Evaluation for Boosting α-Olefin Hydroformylation”. Synthesis gas produced by the gasification of coal or biomass can be used in iron-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to obtain a range of α-olefins with different carbon numbers. These α-olefins can further undergo hydroformylation with syngas to yield long-chain aliphatic aldehydes – important raw materials for the production of fragrances, pharmaceuticals, surfactants, and other products – and they are also seen as a new approach to driving the transformation of coal chemistry toward more sophisticated and high-value applications. However, the rhodium (Rh) and cobalt (Co)-based homogeneous catalysts widely used in industry today often face issues such as harsh reaction conditions and the difficulty in separating the substrate from the catalyst after the reaction. In contrast, cobalt-based catalysts with lower prices have greater application potential. However, compared to rhodium catalysts, supported cobalt-based catalysts generally have lower activity, and they tend to be lost during the reaction due to the strong coordination effect of molecules such as CO, resulting in poor stability. To address this challenge, the research team proposed a new approach for constructing a Co-Mo₂C interface, optimizing the interface structure by controlling the morphology and thickness of molybdenum carbide. The results showed that: · Partially oxidized Mo₂C nanoparticles and cobalt particles formed highly active Co-MoOx interfacial sites, which significantly reduced the CO insertion energy barrier; the specific activity for the hydroformylation of 1-hexene reached 21.4 mol heptanal/mol Co/h, which is 10.7 times that of conventional Co/CNF catalysts ； · Mo₂C nanofilms can further promote the dispersion of cobalt atoms, forming Co-Mo₂C interfacial sites. These sites possess extremely stable Co-C and Co-Mo bonds, which can significantly suppress the precipitation of cobalt and enhance the stability of the catalyst. This research not only provides new approaches for designing efficient and stable cobalt-based hydroformylation heterogeneous catalysts, but also offers a viable technical route for the high-value conversion of coal resources, with the potential to promote the green upgrading of related fine chemical industries.