Process for the manufacture of glycols and glycol nono-esters

Abstract

There is provided an improvement in the process for the preparation of organic monoesters of vicinal glycols and the corresponding free glycols by reacting an olefin with oxygen, water and a carboxylic acid, in the liquid phase, at an initial pH of lower than 7, the improvement comprising contacting the reaction mixture with a catalyst system consisting essentially of (i) iodine or an iodine compound selected from the group consisting essentially of copper iodide, manganese iodide, cerium iodide, an alkali metal iodide, an alkali earth metal iodide and the iodohydride of the olefin, (ii) a copper compound selected from the group consisting essentially of copper oxide, copper hydroxide, copper carbonate, copper iodide, and a copper salt of the carboxylic acid, and (iii) an activating ion selected from the group consisting of manganese cation, cerium cation, an alkali metal cation, an alkaline earth metal cation, nitric anion or a mixture of any of the foregoing, wherein the molar ratio of the carboxylic acid to water is lower than 1, the molar ratio of copper to water is equal to or lower than 2 moles of copper per 100 moles of water, and the molar ratio of iodine to copper is lower than 1.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.