Study of the reaction of Rh(acac)(CO)2 with alkenes in polyethylene films under high-pressure hydrogen and the Rh-catalysed hydrogenation of alkenes

The thermal reaction of Rh(acac)(CO)2 with alkenes has been studied both in the absence and in the presence of high-pressure hydrogen using in situ FTIR and polymer matrix techniques. A series of rhodium alkenes complexes, Rh(acac)(CO)(alkene) (alkene=ethene, propene, 1-butene, 1-octene and trans-3-octene), have been characterized using IR spectroscopy. In the presence of a high-pressure hydrogen, catalytic hydrogenation of alkenes was achieved using Rh(acac)(CO)2 within the polyethylene matrix. These results suggest that this hydrogenation process follows the so-called “olefin route” operating via a sequence of ligand loss, binding of an alkene, oxidative addition of hydrogen to the rhodium metal centre, insertion of the coordinated alkene into the MH bond and finally reductive elimination of the alkane. Rh(acac)(CO) appears to be the active catalytic species in this process. High-pressure polymer matrix techniques have allowed us to unravel some of the interconversions of the catalytic species involved in this catalytic process.