Patent ID: 7906688

Claim:
A hydroformylation process comprising contacting a reactant mixture comprising isomeric olefins represented by the following formulas: RCH 2 —CH 2 —CH═CH 2 (hereinafter, α-olefin reactant), RCH 2 —CH═CH—CH 3 (hereinafter, β-olefin reactant), and RCH 2 —C(CH 3 )═CH 2 (hereinafter, iso-olefin reactant) wherein each R is the same and is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C 1-4 monovalent alkyl radicals, with carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of a transition metal-calixarene bisphosphite ligand complex catalyst, and optionally free calixarene bisphosphite ligand, under reaction conditions sufficient to form a hydroformylation product mixture comprising corresponding normal and branched isomeric aldehyde products, such that the α-olefin and β-olefin reactants achieve a conversion of greater than 1.5 times the conversion of the iso-olefin reactant; the calixarene bisphosphite ligand comprising the following formula: wherein the calixarene is a calix[4]arene; each R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and substituted or unsubstituted C 1-20 alkyl radicals; each Y 1 and Y 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of substituted and unsubstituted monovalent alkyl, alkaryl, aralkyl, and amide radicals; and wherein each Ar 1 , Ar 2 , Ar 3 , and Ar 4 is independently selected from substituted and unsubstituted monovalent C 6-20 aryl radicals, or alternatively, wherein Ar 1 and Ar 2 are connected to form a substituted or unsubstituted divalent C 12-25 arylene radical and/or Ar 3 and Ar 4 are connected to form a substituted or unsubstituted divalent C 12-25 arylene radical.