Ruhrchemie Aktiengesellschaft

Heinz Noeske

Boy Cornils

Hans Tummes

Ludger Bexten

Waldemar Kascha

A process is described for preparing aldehyde by hydroformylation of olefins, in which the olefins together with carbon monoxide, hydrogen and paraffins are introduced into a solution of rhodium carbonyl-triphenylphosphine complexes as catalyst and phosphines as solvent, the improvement wherein the gas stream entering the catalyst solution contains 5 to 30% by volume of paraffins with 1 to 5 carbon atoms.

Process for preparing aldehydes

An improvement in a process for the manufacture of 2-ethylhexanol wherein n-butyraldehyde is subjected to aldol condensation, the resultant aldol condensation product is catalytically hydrogenated in a hydrogenation stage and the hydrogenation product is subjected to two separate multiple stage distillations to separate, in the first case the first runnings, a fraction containing the main amount of 2-ethylhexanol, and the residue. In the second case this residue is separated into a 2-ethylhexanol fraction and a distillation residue, the improvement residing in cracking the distillation residue by heating the same at 200 to 250.degree. C whereby to obtain cracked products comprising n-butanal, 2-ethylhexenal, 2-ethylhexanal, and/or 2-ethylhexanol together with non-cracked higher boiling substances. The cracked products are separated from the non-cracked products and the cracked products are recycled to the hydrogenation stage.

Process for the improved manufacture of 2-ethylhexanol

A process for the isolation of n-aldehyde from a mixture of n-aldehyde and i-aldehyde in a solvent by the addition of no more than a stoichiometric amount of an alkali metal hydrogen sulfite in aqueous solution to the mixture. The resulting precipitate is separated, washed, and later decomposed to yield substantially pure n-aldehyde.

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Oberhausen, Germany

Heinz Noeske