Patent ID: 6307108
Filing Date: 2001-10-23
Classification: C07C,Y02P

Abstract:
A process for separating one or more organophosphorus ligand degradation products, one or more reaction byproducts and one or more products, said products comprising one or more formylesters and/or derivatives thereof, from a reaction product fluid comprising one or more unreacted unsaturated reactants, said unsaturated reactants comprising one or more unsaturated esters and/or derivatives thereof, a metal-organophosphorus ligand complex catalyst, optionally free organophosphorus ligand, said one or more organophosphorus ligand degradation products, said one or more reaction byproducts, said one or more products, a nonpolar solvent and a polar solvent, wherein said process comprises (1) mixing said reaction product fluid to obtain by phase separation a nonpolar phase comprising said one or more unreacted unsaturated reactants, said metal-organophosphorus ligand complex catalyst, said optionally free organophosphorus ligand and sail nonpolar solvent and a polar phase comprising said one or more organophosphorus ligand degradation products, said one or more reaction byproducts, said one or more products and said polar solvent, and (2) recovering said polar phase from said nonpolar phase; wherein (i) the selectivity of the nonpolar phase for the organophosphorus ligand with respect to the one or more products is expressed by the following partition coefficient ratio Ef1: ##EQU11##in which said partition coefficient Kp1 is the ratio of the concentration of organophosphorus ligand in the nonpolar phase after extraction to the concentration of organophosphorus ligand in the polar phase after extraction, said partition coefficient Kp2 is the ratio of the concentration of products in the nonpolar phase after extraction to the concentration of products in the polar phase after extraction, and said Ef1 is a value greater than about 2.5, (ii) the selectivity of the nonpolar phase for the organophosphorus ligand with respect to the one or more organophosphorus ligand degradation products is expressed by the following partition coefficient ratio Ef2: ##EQU12##in which said partition coefficient Kp1 is as defined above, said partition coefficient Kp3 is the ratio of the concentration of organophosphorus ligand degradation products in the nonpolar phase after extraction to the concentration of organophosphorus ligand degradation products in the polar phase after extraction, and said Ef2 is a value greater than about 2.5, and (iii) the selectivity of the nonpolar phase for the organophosphorus ligand with respect to the one or more reaction byproducts is expressed by the following partition coefficient ratio Ef3: ##EQU13##in which said partition coefficient Kp1 is as defined above, said partition coefficient Kp4 is the ratio of the concentration of reaction byproducts in the nonpolar phase after extraction to the concentration of reaction byproducts in the polar phase after extraction, and said Ef3 is a value greater than about 2.5.