Improvement of Productivity for Aqueous Biphasic Hydroformylation of Methyl 10‐Undecenoate: A Detailed Phase Investigation

The overall productivity of the aqueous biphasic hydroformylation of the castor oil‐derived methyl 10‐undecenoate is increased. To increase the reaction rate, the miscibility of water and the fatty compound is increased by addition of the green solvent 1‐butanol as co‐solvent. For the first time, the concentration of solvents, substrate, and product within the reaction process is experimentally examined in a biphasic system under 20 bar pressure of synthesis gas and 140 °C. A reactor to get samples of both phases is developed to determine the quarternary mixture of the reaction system presented in a four‐dimensional tetrahedron diagram. With the knowledge gained about the reaction and its drivers, it is possible to increase the efficiency of the reaction process reported so far. With simultaneously high reaction rates (turn over frequency = >5000 h−1), the space–time yield of the reaction reaches values of >120 g L−1h−1 and can be improved significantly without negatively affecting catalyst leaching. Practical Applications: Most polymers are made of petrochemicals. Here, the development of a highly efficient process for the formation of bifunctional molecules starting from technical grade methyl 10‐undecenoate made from castor oil in an aqueous biphasic reaction system is presented. By rhodium catalyzed hydroformylation, an aldehyde ester is formed which can be used to create alcohols, carboxylic acids, and amines. Subsequently, these molecules can be used as polymer precursors in polycondensation reactions. The overall productivity of the aqueous biphasic hydroformylation of the renewable substrate methyl 10‐undecenoate has been increased. For that, a new phase investigation method is developed.