HYDROFORMYLATION OF OLEFIN

摘要

PURPOSE:To carry out hydroformylation of olefin in the presence of a specific rhodium catalyst in high efficiency while suppressing the formation of reaction byproduct by using two series of reactors having different mixing characteristics in a specific combination. CONSTITUTION:An olefin is hydroformylated by reacting with CO and H2 in the presence of an Rh catalyst containing a trivalent organic phosphorus compound as a ligand. The above reaction is carried out in two stages comprising (i) the 1st stage reactor series 3 exhibiting essentially completely mixing characteristic as the liquid phase mixing characteristic and (ii) the 2nd stage reactor series 12 having a catalyst liquid circulation-type reaction style and exhibiting a piston-flow type mixing characteristic satisfying U>=0.4 wherein U is a dimensionless number defined by formula [u' is average flow rate (cm/sec); L is length (cm) of the reaction layer; E' is average diffusion coefficient (cm<2>/sec)] when the mixing characteristic of the liquid phase is expressed by a diffusion model. The flow containing unreacted gas is separated from the gas 4 discharged from the reactor (i) and a part or total of the separated flow 10 is supplied to the reactor (ii). The process is effective in suppressing the side reactions and improving the raw material conversion.