Rhodium(III) chloride

Rhodium(III) chloride, anhydrous is a dark red to red-black crystalline solid. It is insoluble in water. Anhydrous Rhodium(III) chloride is prepared by reacting chlorine with rhodium sponge metal at 200–300 °C. At temperatures above 800 °C, the anhydrous chloride reverts to rhodium metal and chlorine.

Rhodium(III)chloride, anhydrous is important for catalysis because water can interfere with the catalytic activity of the compound. The anhydrous form ensures the purity and effectiveness of the catalyst in various chemical reactions.
It can be used as

• As a starting material for synthesizing 3D palladium-rhodium (PdRh) nanosheet assembly (NSA) catalysts using a seed-mediated growth method. The resulting open 3D structure significantly enhances electrocatalytic activity for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR).

• As a precursor for the synthesis of Rhodium nanoparticles supported on phosphorus-doped carbon (Rh/PC) using the ball-milling method with sodium hypophosphite as the phosphorus source. This catalyst shows excellent conversion and high regioselectivity for the hydroformylation of styrene, outperforming phosphorus-free (Rh/C) and metal-free (PC) catalysts.

• To synthesis of heterogeneous Rh/COF (covalent organic framework) catalyst using melamine and Rhodium(III) chloride as a precursor. This catalyst enables the tandem selective transfer hydrogenation and monomethylation of nitro compounds with methanol.