Hydroformylation of olefins produced in the Fischer—Tropsch synthesis

Abstract

Alcohols were obtained by the one-stage hydroformylation of olefins from the hydrocarbon fraction C₆–C₉, which was produced in the Fischer—Tropsch synthesis followed by the hydrogenation of aldehydes yielded by the hydroformylation products. The process is carried out on the cobalt catalyst modified by tertiary phosphines under the synthesis gas pressure 85 bar and temperature 180 °C. The role of the solvent is performed by paraffins of the hydrocarbon fraction from the Fischer—Tropsch synthesis. Cobalt acetylacetonate Co(acac)₂, acetate Co(OAc)₂, and carbonate CoCO₃ can serve as catalyst precursors. The complexes with bulky and basic phosphines were shown to possess satisfactory activity and high selectivity to alcohols. Tricyclohexyl- and triphenylphosphines are the most promising for the implementation of the process. The full conversion is achieved within 8 h at the cobalt concentration ∼0.2 wt.%: the residual olefin content is <1% and the selectivity to alcohols is ⩾97%.