Membrane separation process
AssigneeUnion Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
InventorsJay Fingeret Miller, David Robert Bryant, Kenneth Look Hoy, Nancy Ellen Kinkade, Rachel Hilda Zanapalidou
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Abstract
This invention relates to membrane separation of organic solubilized rhodium-organophosphite complex catalyst and free organophosphite ligand from a homogeneous non-aqueous hydroformylation reaction mixture, said mixture also containing, in addition to said catalyst and free ligand, aldehyde product and an organic solvent.
Claims11
A process for separating an organic solubilized rhodium-organophosphite complex catalyst and free organophosphite ligand from a non-aqueous hydroformylation reaction mixture, said mixture containing, in addition to said catalyst and free ligand, aldehyde product and an organic solvent, which comprises,
- (i) contacting said non-aqueous hydroformylation reaction mixture with a composite membrane at a pressure from about 50 psi to about 1500 psi so as to allow a substantial portion of said aldehyde product and organic solvent to pass through said membrane, while rejecting at least 90 percent by weight of said catalyst and free ligand;
- wherein said aldehyde product has a solubility parameter in relation to the solubility parameter of the membrane of said composite membrane of at least .+-.50 .sqroot.kJ/m.sup.3 units, but not more than .+-.500 .sqroot.kJ/m.sup.3 units, and wherein the ratio of the molar volume of said organophosphite ligand to said aldehyde product is .gtoreq.1.5;
- and
- (ii) recovering said aldehyde product and organic solvent as a permeate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.