Rh nanoparticle catalyzed hydrogenation of olefins in thermoregulated ionic liquid and organic biphase system

Rh nanoparticle catalyzed hydrogenation of olefins in a biphase system composed of [CH3(OCH2CH2)(16)N+Et3] [CH3SO3-] (IL-(PEG750)) ionic liquid and organic solvent allows for not only a highly efficient homogeneous catalytic reaction, but also an easy separation and reuse of catalyst attributed to the thermoregulated phase-transition property of the ILPEG750 and organic biphase system. Under the optimized conditions, various alkenes could be hydrogenated to the corresponding alkanes as the sole product with 100% conversion. The Rh nanoparticles can be recovered by simple phase separation and reused for nine times without evident loss of activity. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.