Phosphorus-Doped Carbon-Supported Rh Nanoparticles for the Hydroformylation of Styrene with High Regioselectivity

Rhodium nanoparticles supported on phosphorus-doped carbon(Rh/PC)are successfully prepared by the ball-milling method with sodium hypophosphiteas the phosphorus source. The catalyst exhibits superb conversion(93.6%) and high regioselectivity (branched aldehydes/linear aldehydes= 20.2:1) for the hydroformylation of styrene compared to the phosphorus-free(Rh/C) and metal-free (PC) catalysts.