Abstract: The catalytic properties of water-soluble rhodium complex RhCl(CO)(TPPTS)2[TPPTS: P(m-C6H4SO3Na)3] for monoterpenes hydroformylation in an aqueous/organic biphasic system have been investigated. The results showed that the activity for monoterpenes hydroformylation was accelerated by the addition of ionic surfactant. Under optimum reaction conditions, the conversion of myrcene, camphene, and limonene reached 92%, 72%, and 86%, respectively. Furthermore, the rhodium catalyst immobilized in the water phase could be easily separated from the organic products and reused several times without significant loss of activity and selectivity. The rhodium leaching into the organic phase was lower than 0.04% in each cycle.

Key words: monoterpene, hydroformylation, water-soluble rhodium-phosphine complex, surfactant