Kinetics of hydroformylation of ethylene in a homogeneous medium: comparison in organic and aqueous systems

The kinetics of hydroformylation of ethylene was studied using HRh(CO)(PPh<SUB>3</SUB>)<SUB>3</SUB> and [Rh(COD)CI]<SUB>2</SUB>/TPPTS catalyst in toluene and water media, respectively. The rates were found to have a first-order dependence on the catalyst concentration. Similar trends were observed with respect to partial pressures of ethylene and carbon monoxide, in both solvents. The difference in the location of the maxima with respect to pressure is due to the poor solubility of the reactants in water as compared to toluene. The major difference observed was a 1.5 order with hydrogen in toluene compared with a first order in water. Rate models were proposed to represent the data observed