Large quantities of aldehydes are produced by the
hydroformylation reaction of alkenes, carbon monoxide, and H2.
In the Fischer-Tropsch process carbon monoxide is hydrogenated
to liquid hydrocarbon fuels. This technology allows coal or biomass
to be converted to diesel.
In the Monsanto process, carbon monoxide and methanol react in
the presence of a homogeneous rhodium catalyst and HI to give
acetic acid. This process is responsible for most of the industrial
production of acetic acid.
An industrial scale use for pure carbon monoxide is purifying
nickel in the Mond process.
In biology, carbon monoxide is naturally produced by the action
of heme oxygenase 1 and 2 on the heme from hemoglobin breakdown.
This process produces a certain amount of carboxyhemoglobin in
normal persons, even if they do not breathe any carbon
monoxide.
Carbon monoxide are burnt to provide heat for manufacturing
processes, to heat homes and to separate metals like iron and
nickel, from their ores and even to purify them.
In the form of producer gas or water gas, it is widely used as a
fuel in industrial operations. The gas is also an effective
reducing agent.
Carbon monoxide also reacts with certain metals, especially
iron, cobalt, ruthenium and nickel, to form compounds known as
metal-carbonyls. Some of the carbonyls have unusual physical and
chemical properties that make them useful in industry and
catalysis. The highly toxic nickel tetracarbonyl, for example, is
used to produce very pure nickel coatings and powders.
