An important discovery in the way rhodium catalysts behave could have significant industrial uses, it has been claimed.

Headed by Eric Hope, researchers at the University of Leicester and the University of St Andrews have established something which they believe could eventually enable rhodium catalysts to become more widely used in industrial processes.

At present, rhodium catalysts are used in the production of soaps and plasticers, but because they decompose as the products are removed by distillation, the catalysts have never been used to their full potential in industry.

To reduce the decomposition of the catalysts, fluorous biphase catalysis was established.

As part of this process, perfluoroalkyl groups, or ponytails, are attached to the phosphine ligands on the rhodium catalyst.

What the researchers discovered, explains Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), was that catalyst activity, regioselectivity and the ability to separate the catalyst from the product will vary depending on the number and type of ponytails that are attached to the ligand and does not have anything to do with the electronic environment of the phosphine.

This new information therefore has the potential to help develop a rhodium catalyst that can be used in industry.


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