In chemistry, carbonylation refers to reactions that introduce carbon monoxide (CO) into organic and inorganic substrates. Carbon monoxide is abundantly available and conveniently reactive, so it is widely used as a reactant in industrial chemistry.[1] The term carbonylation also refers to oxidation of protein side chains.
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".Hydroformylation entails the addition of both carbon monoxide and hydrogen to unsaturated organic compounds, usually alkenes. The usual products are aldehydes:
The reaction requires metal catalysts that bind CO, forming intermediate metal carbonyls. Many of the commodity carboxylic acids, i.e. propionic, butyric, valeric, etc, as well as many of the commodity alcohols, i.e. propanol, butanol, amyl alcohol, are derived from aldehydes produced by hydroformylation. In this way, hydroformylation is a gateway from alkenes to oxygenates.
Decarbonylation
Few organic carbonyls undergo spontaneous decarbonylation, but many can be induced to do so with appropriate catalysts. A common transformation involves the conversion of aldehydes to alkanes, usually catalyzed by metal complexes:[5]
The oxidative carbonylation of methanol is catalyzed by copper(I) salts, which form transient carbonyl complexes. For the oxidative carbonylation of alkenes, palladium complexes are used.
Hydrocarboxylation, hydroxycarbonylation, and hydroesterification
In hydrocarboxylation, alkenes and alkynes are the substrates. This method is used to produce propionic acid from ethylene using nickel carbonyl as the catalyst:[2]
The above reaction is also referred to as hydroxycarbonylation, in which case hydrocarboxylation refers to the same net converstion but using carbon dioxide in place of CO and Template:Chem2 in place of water:[8]
The Koch reaction is a special case of hydrocarboxylation reaction that does not rely on metal catalysts. Instead, the process is catalyzed by strong acids such as sulfuric acid or the combination of phosphoric acid and boron trifluoride. The reaction is less applicable to simple alkene. The industrial synthesis of glycolic acid is achieved in this way:[12]
Alkyl, benzyl, vinyl, aryl, and allyl halides can also be carbonylated in the presence carbon monoxide and suitable catalysts such as manganese, iron, or nickel powders.[13]
In the industrial synthesis of ibuprofen, a benzylic alcohol is converted to the corresponding arylacetic acid via a Pd-catalyzed carbonylation:[2]
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".Metal carbonyls, compounds with the formula Template:Chem2 (M = metal; L = other ligands) are prepared by carbonylation of transition metals. Iron and nickel powder react directly with CO to give Template:Chem2 and Template:Chem2, respectively. Most other metals form carbonyls less directly, such as from their oxides or halides. Metal carbonyls are widely employed as catalysts in the hydroformylation and Reppe processes discussed above.[14] Inorganic compounds that contain CO ligands can also undergo decarbonylation, often via a photochemical reaction.
↑Hartwig, J. F. Organotransition Metal Chemistry, from Bonding to Catalysis; University Science Books: New York, 2010.
↑Kreis, M.; Palmelund, A.; Bunch, L.; Madsen, R., "A General and Convenient Method for the Rhodium-Catalyzed Decarbonylation of Aldehydes", Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis 2006, 348, 2148-2154. Script error: No such module "CS1 identifiers".
↑El Ali, B.; Alper, H. "Hydrocarboxylation and hydroesterification reactions catalyzed by transition metal complexes" In Transition Metals for Organic Synthesis, 2nd ed.; Beller, M., Bolm, C., Eds.; Wiley-VCH:Weinheim, 2004. Template:ISBN
