Patent ID: 8168841

Claim:
A process for preparing cyclododecatriene, comprising: reacting butadiene in a solvent, in the presence of at least one catalyst system to form a crude cyclododecatriene mixture, wherein the process is continuous, the at least one catalyst system comprises: one selected from the group consisting of nickel, titanium and a mixture thereof; ethoxydiethylaluminum or ethylaluminum sesquichloride; and 10 to 200 ppm by mass of the reaction mixture of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of ammonia, a C 1-8 alkyl primary amine and a C 1-8 dialkyl secondary amine; the solvent comprises, before the addition of the at least one catalyst system, 10-1000 ppm by mass of a polar component of the general formula HO—R, where R is selected from the group consisting of branched and unbranched C 1 -C 18 -alkyl, C 1 -C 18 -cycloalkyl, C 1 -C 18 -aryl, C 1 -C 18 -aralkyl and H, and a temperature of the butadiene reaction is less than or equal to 140° C. in the case of a nickel catalyst system and less than or equal to 80° C. in the case of a titanium catalyst system.