Electrolytic hydrodimerization process improvement

摘要

In a process for hydrodimerizing an olefinic nitrile, amide or ester by electrolyzing an aqueous solution of the olefinic starting material, conductive salt and a nitrilocarboxylic acid compound that inhibits formation of hydrogen at the cathode, such hydrogen formation can be even further inhibited and the current efficiency of the process significantly further increased by including in the solution a tri(C2-C4 alkanol)amine such as triethanolamine.