Patent ID: 6846945

Claim:
A hydrocyanation process, said process, said process comprising: contacting an acyclic and aliphatic ethylenically unsaturated olefin compound with HCN in the presence of a catalyst composition, wherein said catalyst composition comprises a Group VIII metal and a phosphonite ligand wherein the ligand has a structure: wherein the X groups independently are selected from the group consisting of unbridged substituted and unsubstituted organic aromatic groups, and when X is substituted, the substituent on X is independently selected from the group consisting of C1 to C12 alkyl, perfluoroalkyl, cycloalkyl, alkoxy, acetal, ketal, alkylaryl, aryl, 1,3-dioxolane, cyano, and hydrogen and wherein the Q groups independently are selected from the group consisting of substituted and unsubstituted divalent aromatic and non aromatic hydrocarbon radicals, and when Q is substituted, the substituent on the Q groups is independently selected from the group consisting of C1 to C12 alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkoxy, alkylaryl, aryl, pyran, and cyano, and L is a linking group selected from the group consisting of —CR1R2-, —O—, —S—, —CO— (wherein each of R1-R2 are independent of one another, are a hydrogen atom, a C1-12 alkyl group, or an aryl group), and each of m and m′ which are independent of each other, are 0 or 1.