Selective hydroformylation–acetalization of aryl alkenes in methanol catalyzed by RhCl 3·3H 2O–P(OPh) 3 system

Abstract

Acetals were formed under hydroformylation conditions of alkenes in alcohols as solvents. The hydroformylation process is combined with acetalization in a one-pot reaction leading to acetals as final products. These reactions sequences were catalyzed by the simple rhodium catalyst RhCl 3·3H 2O. The effects of the addition of different types and amounts of phosphine and phosphite ligands were carefully studied in order to improve the regioselectivity of the reaction.