Hydrocyanation process of unsatured nitriles into dinitriles.

摘要

The present invention relates to a process for the hydrocyanation of nitriles containing ethylenic unsaturation to saturated dinitriles, in particular the hydrocyanation of pentenenitriles to adiponitrile, one of the base compounds in the production of polyamide-6,6. It more precisely consists of a process for the hydrocyanation of an aliphatic nitrile containing ethylenic unsaturation by reaction with hydrogen cyanide in the presence of an aqueous solution of a catalyst comprising a transition metal compound and a sulphonated phosphine, characterised in that the said solution also contains a cocatalyst consisting of at least one Lewis acid.