Patent ID: 7790938

Claim:
A process for producing a purified alcohol, the process comprising hydrogenating an aldehyde in a reactor packed with a hydrogenation catalyst to form a crude alcohol, and purifying the crude alcohol by distillation to produce the purified alcohol; wherein the hydrogenation reaction is carried out in the liquid phase, wherein, during the hydrogenation process, some of the packed hydrogenation catalyst escapes into the reaction solution in the form of a powder, wherein most of the powdered hydrogenation catalyst is removed from the reaction solution via filtration after the hydrogenation of the aldehyde and before distillation of the crude alcohol wherein the crude alcohol is subjected to distillation/purification in the presence of the remaining powdered hydrogenation catalyst such that a dehydrogenation reaction of the alcohol to the aldehyde is suppressed, wherein the aldehyde contained in the purified alcohol, after distillation/purification, is 0.05 wt% or less, and wherein the amount of the powdered catalyst present during the distillation/purification of the crude alcohol is present in a positive amount of 100 ppm or less.