The present article provides an overview of the recent developments in the area of aqueous phase hydroformylation of alkenes. The commercial application of aqueous phase hydroformylation reaction is restricted to the lower carbon chain alkenes due to the solubility and mass transfer limitations of the higher carbon chain alkenes in aqueous phase. The approaches which have been developed to improve the solubility of higher carbon chain length alkenes for aqueous phase hydroformylation reaction are emphasized in this article. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.