Dual Rh-Ru Catalysts for Reductive Hydroformylation of Olefins to Alcohols

An active and selective dual catalytic system to promote domino hydroformylation-reduction reactions is described. Apart from terminal, di- and trisubstituted olefins, for the first time the less active internal C-C double bond of tetrasubstituted alkenes can also be utilized. As an example, 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene is converted into the corresponding n-alcohol with high yield (90 %) as well as regio- and chemoselectivity (>97 %). Key for this development is the use of a combination of Rh complexes with bulky monophosphite ligands and the Ru-based Shvo's complex. A variety of aromatic and aliphatic alkenes can be directly used to obtain mainly linear alcohols.