Eastman Chemical Company

Elizabeth MacGowan West

Joseph Robert Zoeller

George G Mayfield

Horace Lawrence Browning, Jr

Disclosed is a process for the preparation of aliphatic carbonyl compounds selected from aliphatic carboxylic acids, alkyl esters of aliphatic carboxylic acids and anhydrides of aliphatic carboxylic acids by the carbonylation of olefins in the presence of a catalyst system comprising (1) a primary component selected from at least one Group 6 metal, i.e., chromium, molybdenum, and/or tungsten and (2) a secondary component selected from at least one of certain halides and tertiary and quaternary compounds of a Group 15 element, i.e., nitrogen, phosphorus and/or arsenic. The process constitutes and improvement over known processes since it can be carried out at moderate carbonylation conditions without the necessity of using an expensive noble metal catalyst, volatile, toxic materials such as nickel tetracarbonyl, formic acid or a formate ester.

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Kingsport, TN, United States of America

Elizabeth MacGowan West