Propene (propylene) is the most important
hydroformylation
reactant
on an industrial scale, representing approximately 75% of the global
consumption of oxo chemicals. Both n-butanal and
isobutanal, the products of propene hydroformylation, are valuable
precursors, and thus controlling the regioselectivity in this reaction
is of academic and industrial interest. In the Rh-catalyzed propene
hydroformylation, regioselective reactions have been achieved by a
modifying ligand. Although highly normal selective (n/iso > 50) ligands have been reported, iso-selective (n/iso < 1) ligands are limited and more importantly show
a significantly
reduced activity (TOF < 1000 h–1). Herein, we
report a highly reactive and regio-controlled (n/iso
= 1) propene hydroformylation enabled by Rh catalysis with a sterically
bulky π-acceptor phosphorus (bicyclic bridgehead phosphoramidite
(briphos)) ligand. In addition, a briphos/PPh3 ligand combination
results in a mixed-ligand Rh(I) complex that shows regioselectivity
(n/iso = 1) and high reactivity (TOF = 22,700 h–1) and stability during propene hydroformylation.