Patent ID: 8637709

Claim:
A process for the preparation of primary amines by alcohol amination of alcohols with ammonia with elimination of water, the process comprising (a) homogeneously catalytically reacting a mixture comprising an alcohol, ammonia, and a nonpolar solvent in the presence of a catalyst comprising at least one element selected from groups 8, 9 and 10 of the Periodic Table of the Elements, in a liquid phase, to obtain a product mixture P, (b) phase separating the product mixture P, optionally after performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of lowering the temperature, lowering the pressure, and adding at least one polar solvent having a miscibility gap with the nonpolar solvent, to obtain at least one polar product phase A and at least one nonpolar phase B comprising at least some of the catalyst used, and separating off the nonpolar phase B, (c) returning at least some of the nonpolar phase B to the mixture in (a), and (d) separating off an amination product from the polar product phase A, where the nonpolar solvent used in (a) and the catalyst used in (a) are such that the catalyst accumulates in the nonpolar phase B.