Kuraray Co., Ltd.

Daicel Chemical Industries, Ltd.

Masuhiko Tamura

Noriaki Yoshimura

Mitsuo Matsumoto

Takanori Kitamura

Hidetaka Kojima

Yasuo Tokitoh

Kunio Koga

Seishiro Nakamura

Teruo Yasui

Shigeru Yamashita

Koichi Kikuchi

Shinichi Miura

There is provided a process for producing propylene glycol monoacetate which comprises the steps of

Process for producing propylene glycol monoacetate

Allyl alcohol is hydroformylated with a gaseous mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, in an aromatic hydrocarbon, in the presence of a rhodium complex and a trisubstituted phosphine, to form hydroxybutyraldehydes which are separated from the reaction mixture within an aqueous medium. The carbon monoxide partial pressure, the rate of consumption of carbon monoxide, the rate at which the carbon monoxide is dissolved in the reaction mixture, reaction temperature and the viscosity of the reaction mixture are selected and controlled in an interrelated way to give a high yield of 4-hydroxybutyraldehyde and reduced catalyst consumption.

Process for continuous hydroformylation of allyl alcohol

A process for producing 1,9-nonanedial which comprises hydroformylating 7-octen-1-al with a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in an aqueous sulfolane or 1,4-butanediol solution in the presence of a rhodium complex and the sodium, potassium or lithium salt of m-(diphenylphosphino)benzenesulfonic acid, extracting 1,9-nonanedial from the reaction mixture with a primary alcohol or a mixture of a primary alcohol and a saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon, and recycling the extraction residue containing the catalyst components to the 7-octen-1-al hydroformylation step.

Process for producing 1,9-nonanedial

There are disclosed a process for producing 7-octen-1-al which comprises isomerizing 2,7-octadien-1-ol in the presence of a catalyst comprising oxides of at least two metals selected from the group consisting of copper, chromium and zinc and processes for producing derivatives of 7-octen-1-al.

Processes for producing 7-octen-1-al and derivatives thereof

A process for producing methyl lactate by (I) hydroformylating vinyl acetate or vinyl propionate with a gaseous mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in an organic solvent in the presence of a substantially water-insoluble rhodium complex and a tri-substituted phosphine to form .alpha.-acetoxy- or propionyloxy-propionaldehyde, (II) subjecting at least part of the reaction mixture obtained in step (I) to extraction with an aqueous medium to obtain an aqueous layer containing .alpha.-acetoxy- or propionyloxy-propionaldehyde and an extraction residue containing the catalyst components, and recycling the extraction residue to the hydroformylation step (I), (III) separating .alpha.-acetoxy- or propionyloxy-propionaldehyde from the aqueous layer containing the same as obtained in step (II), (IV) oxidizing .alpha.-acetoxy- or propionyloxy-propionaldehyde obtained in step (III) in the liquid phase with oxygen gas or an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of an oxidation catalyst to form .alpha.-acetoxy- or propionyloxy-propionic acid, and (V) reacting .alpha.-acetoxy- or propionyloxy-propionic acid obtained in step (IV) with methanol in the presence of an acid catalyst, and recovering the resultant methyl lactate by distillation.

Process for producing methyl lactate

There is disclosed a method of producing 1,9-nonanedial and/or 9-hydroxy-7-nonen-1-al which comprises reacting 2,7-octadien-1-ol with a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in an organic solvent in the presence of a rhodium catalyst and 30-300 equivalents of a monodentate tertiary organic phosphorus compound in per gram atom of rhodium at a hydrogen partial pressure of 0.5-20 kg/cm.sup.2 (absolute) and a carbon monoxide partial pressure of 0.1-5.0 kg/cm.sup.2 (absolute).

Method of producing 1,9-nonanedial and 9-hydroxy-7-nonen-1-al

n-Octanol is obtained by (i) reacting butadiene with water in a solution containing water, a carbonate and/or bicarbonate salt of a monodentate tertiary amine, and sulpholane in the presence of a palladium compound and a hydrophilic monodentate phosphine, to form 2,7-octadien-1-ol; (ii) extracting 2,7-octadien-1-ol from at least part of the reaction mixture obtained in step (i) with a saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon, a monoolefinic hydrocarbon or an alicyclic hydrocarbon, and recycling the extraction residue to the 2,7-octadien-1-ol synthesis step (i); (iii) subjecting the extract layer containing 2,7-octadien-1-ol as obtained in step (ii) to distillation to distill off a large proportion of the extracting solvent therefrom, followed by distillation in the presence of water, whereby the extracting solvent remaining is distilled off in the form of an azeotropic mixture with water, to obtain a distillation residue; (iv) recovering 2,7-octadien-1-ol from the distillation residue obtained in step (iii) by distillation; (v) hydrogenating the 2,7-octadien-1-ol obtained in step (iv) in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst to obtain n-octanol; and (iv) recovering n-octanol from the hydrogenation reaction mixture by distillation.

Process for producing normal-octanol

A process for preparing n-octadienol comprising the steps of:

Process for preparing n-octadienol

A process for producing acetaldehyde is disclosed, which comprises reacting acetic anhydride with hydrogen in gaseous phase in the presence of a supported catalyst comprising a palladium, a platinum or a rhodium component.

Process for producing acetaldehyde

In the carbonylation of olefinic compounds in the presence of a cobalt carbonyl catalyst, the addition to the reaction system of a secondary phosphine oxide represented by the general formula ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are the same or different and each is substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon residue having not more than about 20 carbon atoms, in an amount of 0.2 to 20 moles per gram atom of the cobalt makes it possible to separate the reaction product from the reaction mixture by direct distillation without any such special operation for the catalyst separation as required in the conventional processes. The distillation residue which contains the catalyst can be recycled for the reuse thereof in the carbonylation.

Carbonylation of olefinic compounds

This invention provides an improved process for producing alkadienes which comprises (1) contacting butadiene or isoprene with a catalyst such as platinum or palladium or a compound of one of said metals in a sulfolane solution, in the presence of a tertiary lower alkylamine formate and at least one phosphine compound of the formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 is a substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1-10 hydrocarbon group; R.sup.2 is H, a saturated aliphatic C.sub.1-5 hydrocarbon group, nitro or halogen; m is 1, 2 or 3; n is 0 or 1; x is 0, 1 or 2; y and z each is 0, 1, 2 or 3 (provided that y and z are not zero concurrently and x+y+z=3); A is --SO.sub.3 M wherein M is a cation selected from among H, alkali metals, alkaline earth metals and NH.sub.4 or the formate or an inorganic acid salt of ##STR2## wherein R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 each means a saturated aliphatic C.sub.1-4 hydrocarbon group in an amount of 4 to 200 moles per gram atom of the metal constituting the catalyst to form dimeric alkadienes; (2) separating the reaction mixture into an alkadiene-containing layer and a catalyst-containing layer; and (3) recycling the catalyst-containing layer to the alkadiene production process. The improved process makes it possible to maintain the catalytic activity over a prolonged period of time and to facilitate separation and reuse of the catalyst.

Process for producing alkadienes

In hydroformylating an olefinic compound in an organic solvent and in the presence of a rhodium complex and a trisubstituted phosphine to give the corresponding aldehyde, at least one diphosphino compound of the following general formula (I) is added to the reaction system in a proportion of 0.20 to 5.0 equivalents per rhodium atom in the rhodium complex ##STR1## wherein A.sup.1 and A.sup.2, respectively, are aryl groups; R.sup.1 and R.sup.2, respectively, are an aryl group or a saturated hydrocarbon residue containing 1 or more carbon atoms; and ##STR2## represents a substituted or unsubstituted alicyclic hydrocarbon group containing 3 to 6 carbon atoms in the main ring. The addition of diphosphino compound (I) has a remarkable life-prolonging effect on the rhodium catalyst.

Hydroformylation of olefinic compounds

Polyoxyalkylene compounds having at least four oxyalkylene units and one or two terminal hydroxyl groups are etherified by reacting same with organic primary chlorides or bromides in the presence of an aqueous, at least 30% by weight solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide to produce the corresponding etherified polyoxyalkylene derivatives. The molar ratio of the organohalide to the hydroxyl group(s) of the polyoxyalkylene compound is at least 1.2, and the molar ratio of the alkali metal hydroxide to such hydroxyl group(s) is at least 1.

Preparation of etherified polyoxyalkylene derivatives

An industrially suitable process for producing a higher carbonyl compound by the oxidation of an olefinic compound having at least six carbon atoms is provided. Said improved process comprises oxidizing the olefinic compound in aqueous medium containing palladium or salt thereof and a copper salt in the presence of a specific water-soluble polyoxyalkylene compound in an amount of from about 1/4 to about 3 parts by weight per 1 part by weight of water contained in the reaction mixture. The improvement is demonstrated in terms of yield, selectivity, separation of the product, and recycle of the catalyst.

Process for producing a higher carbonyl compound

Rhodium catalyzed hydroformylation of olefinic compounds is essentially effected in the presence of a secondary phosphine oxide of the general formula (I) in an amount of at least one mole per gram atom of rhodium, which supresses the thermal degradation of the rhodium catalyst in the hydroformylation stage as well as in the distillation of the reaction products: ##STR1## wherein, in the formula (I), R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are the same or different, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon residues containing not more than 20 carbon atoms. The phosphine oxide of the general formula (I) maintains the catalytic activity over a prolonged period of time and prevents essentially metallic rhodium from sticking to the vessel during distillation of the reaction products from the reaction mixture, and consequently makes recycle of the catalyst easier and enables lowering the hydroformylation pressure.

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Kurashiki, Japan

Masuhiko Tamura