Hydroformylation of ethylene oxide (EO) is an efficient route to the production of 1,3- propanediol (PDO), commercialized by Shell Chemicals in 1996. Primary use of PDO is in production of polytrimethyleneterephthalate (PTT), a new polymer with advantaged properties and reduced environmental footprint relative to traditional nylon. Use of supercritical solvents or solvents “expanded” via addition of a near- or super-critical component has attracted recent attention for homogeneously catalyzed reactions.1-3 The purpose of the current study was to assess potential of near-critical expanded olvents for hydroformylation of ethylene oxide with homogeneous cobalt carbonyl as catalyst.
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