Process for the epoxidation of olefins

摘要

The present invention refers to a process for the catalytic epoxidation of olefins in the presence of a titanium containing zeolite catalyst and a polar solvent whereby the deactivation of the catalyst upon recycling of the solvent has been considerably reduced. In the process one or more nitrogen containing compounds are introduced at some stage, a solvent stream is recovered, treated to contain less than 50 wppm nitrogen in the form of organic nitrogen compounds and at least a part of it is recycled to the epoxidation step. The invention is also directed towards a process for the catalytic epoxidation of propene which integrates the inventive treatment and recycle of the solvent into the workup of the reaction mixture.