The hydroformylation of olefins is one of the most important homogeneously catalyzed industrial reactions for aldehyde synthesis. Various ligands can be used to obtain the desired linear aldehydes in the hydroformylation of aliphatic olefins. However, in the hydroformylation of aromatic substrates, branched aldehydes are formed preferentially with common ligands. In this study, a novel approach to selectively obtain linear aldehydes in the hydroformylation of styrene and its derivatives was developed by coupling with a water-gas shift reaction on a Rh single-atom catalyst without the use of ligands. Detailed studies revealed that the hydrogen generated in situ from the water-gas shift is critical for the highly regioselective formation of linear products. The coupling of a traditional homogeneous catalytic process with a heterogeneous catalytic reaction to tune product selectivity may provide a new avenue for the heterogenization of homogenous catalytic processes.
Keywords: hydroformylation; hydrogen; regioselectivity; single-atom catalysts; styrene.
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