On-water rhodium-catalysed hydroformylation for the production of linear alcoholsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Calibration curves, optimisation of aldehyde reduction reaction using PBu3 and PPh3, optimisation of aldehyde reduction using Ru3(CO)12/Xantphos, reaction profiles and parameter screening in cobalt-catalysed hydroformylation of 1-octene. See DOI: 10.1039/c2cy00450j

Optimisation of the reaction conditions for the rhodium-catalysed aldehyde hydrogenation under hydroformylation conditions showed that water used as co-solvent enhances both rate and selectivity towards primary alcohols. One-pot hydroformylationhydrogenation using rhodium as the only transition metal yielded alcohols in excellent selectivities and good linearities. The addition of water as co-solvent in hydroformylation reactions enhances the hydrogenation ability of the catalytic system. Under certain reaction conditions, highly chemo- and regioselective tandem hydroformylationhydrogenation reactions take place leading to up to 93% of the linear alcohol.