OXO
OXO : From Oxierung, German, meaning ketonization. Also called hydroformylation and Oxoation. A process for converting olefins to aldehydes containing an additional carbon atom, provided by carbon monoxide: R ? CH=CH2 + CO + H2 ? xR?CH2+CH2+CHO + (1?x)R ?CH ?CHO (R ? CH3). In recent years the name has come to include the production of downstream products (e.g. alcohols and acids) from the aldehydes too. Invented by O. Roelen in 1938 at the Chemische Verwertungsgesellschaft Oberhausen. Further developed by Ruhr Chemie and IG Farbenindustrie in Germany during World War II. It was first commercialized in 1948. Originally the process operated at high pressure, and dicobalt octacarbonyl, Co2(CO)8, was used as a homogeneous catalyst. The present process, known as the LP OXO process, also the LPO process, developed in the 1970s jointly by Union Carbide Corporation, Johnson Matthey, and Davy Corporation, operates at a lower pressure and uses the Wilkinson catalyst (a complex of rhodium carbonyl hydride with triphenyl phosphine). The resulting carbonyl compound can be hydrogenated in situ to the corresponding alcohol if an excess of hydrogen is used, or oxidized in a subsequent operation to the corresponding carboxylic acid. (Check source for accuracy of chemical formula)
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