SiO2-supported Co-Rh bimetallic catalysts for dicyclopentadiene hydroformylation: relationships between catalytic performance and structure of the catalysts

In this work, SiO2-supported Co-Rh bimetallic catalysts were prepared by adopting a method of impregnation and were used to catalyse the hydroformylation of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) to diformyltricyclodecanes. Firstly, the hydroformylation of DCPD was carried out and three reaction stages were observed. In the first stage, a sharp decrease of reaction pressure was observed within 4 minutes. In the next stage, almost no reaction pressure decrease was detected over a relatively longer reaction time (70 minutes). In the final stage, the reaction pressure decreased at a relatively gentle rate, with barely any decrease of reaction pressure being observed at 460 minutes. Secondly, the hydroformylation of monoformyltricyclodecenes (MFTD) with various reaction times was carried out; the catalyst that was used at various reaction times was also recovered. Finally, the catalyst that had been used at various reaction times was characterised and analysed and the relationship between the catalytic performance and the structure of the catalysts was confirmed. In addition, combined with triphenylphosphine, the influence of pressure on the activity of Co-Rh bimetallic catalysts was investigated for the hydroformylation of MFTD.