Industrial aspects of aqueous catalysis

In recent years aqueous two-phase catalysis has conquered its own field of homogeneously catalysed processes and has already achieved industrial-scale importance in hydroformylation. Because it has a number of advantages (ease of separation of catalyst and product, catalysts tan be matched very precisely to the particular problem and thus tailor-made, use of special properties and effects of water as a solvent and reaction solvent, environmentally benign process) its importance and application will grow further. So far, scientific research has mainly concentrated on the preparation of water-soluble ligands and their metal complexes, but the outstanding features and effects of water-based catalysts in different types of reactions need to be rationalised with regard to their special mechanistic and kinetic aspects.