STUDIES ON A NEW CATALYST FOR THE HYDROFORMYLATION OF ALKENES USING C60 AS A LIGAND

RhH(CO)(C60)(PPh3)2 has been synthesised by reacting the hydroformylat ion catalyst, RhH (CO) (PPh3)3, with an equimolar amount of C60 in tol uene. This compound is an efficient catalyst for the hydroformylation of alkenes to aldehydes at 90-degrees-C. The activity and regio-specif icity for the conversion of propene, CO and H-2 to butanal are only sl ightly lower compared to RhH(CO) (PPh3)3, however, the temperature-pro grammed decomposition of the RhH(CO) (C60) (PPh3)2 compound in the pre sence of CO and H-2 shows greater thermal stability than the RhH(CO) ( PPh3)3.