Patent ID: 7202205

Claim:
A process comprising: (A) a stage of at least partially separating a hydrocarbon feed comprising branched aliphatic hydrocarbons having from about 8 to about 20 carbon atoms, into at least one branched-enriched stream comprising an increased proportion of branched acyclic hydrocarbons relative to said hydrocarbon feed and optionally, one or more of: a linear-enriched stream comprising an increased proportion of linear aliphatic hydrocarbons relative to said hydrocarbon feed; and a reject stream comprising cyclic and/or aromatic and/or ethyl- or higher-branched hydrocarbons; wherein said stage (A) comprises: providing said hydrocarbon feed; and adsorptive separation of said feed into said streams using porous media; said stage (A) using simulated moving bed adsorptive separation means comprising both of: at least one bed holding said porous media; and a device for simulating motion of said porous media countercurrent to a hydrocarbon stream in said bed; (B) (i) at least partially dehydrogenating the branched-enriched stream of stage (A) thereby forming an olefinic branched-enriched stream comprising mono-olefin, optionally followed by one or more of (ii) treating said olefinic branched-enriched steam to diminish the content therein of diolefin impurities and (iii) treating said olefinic branched-enriched stream to diminish the content therein of aromatic impurities; (C) optionally, at least partially concentrating said mono-olefins in said olefinic branched-enriched stream of stage (B) by means of sorptive separation using a known sorbent or porous media provided that said sorbent or porous media arm nonidentical with the porous media of stage (A) and are adapted for olefin/paraffin separations and, optionally, concurrently recycling paraffins to said dehydrogenation stage (B); and (D) reacting said olefinic branched-enriched stream produced in stage (B) or, optionally, as further concentrated in stage (C), with carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of an OXO catalyst, thereby forming a modified primary OXO alcohol.