Hydrogenation of unsaturated dinitriles using catalyst comprising reaction products of nickel compound and of a palladium compound each with an alkali metal borohydride

Abstract

A branched chain unsaturated aliphatic dinitrile, e.g., as contained in a reaction product of acrylonitrile with isobutylene is subjected to hydrogenation under hydrogenation conditions in the presence of a combination or composition of catalysts including essentially at least one component selected from the group consisting of reaction products of an alkali metal borohydride with a palladium compound which is reducible by hydrogen to the elemental form and another component selected from a group consisting of the reaction products of an alkali metal borohydride with a nickel compound which is reducible by hydrogen to the elemental form, the individual components being primarily active as follows: the nickel component to hydrogenate nitrile groups and the palladium component to hydrogenate the olefinic unsaturation in the particular compounds hydrogenated; the process being carried out as a one-step process when the components are in admixture and as a two-step process when the components are used separately, one of them in one step and the other in another step of a two-step process. Completely saturated branched aliphatic diamines are produced.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.