Stabilizing rhodium catalysts for the hydroformylation of olefins

Abstract

Aldehydes are prepared by a process, which comprises: hydroformylating olefins having 3 to 21 carbon atoms under an atmosphere of CO/H2 in the presence of a rhodium catalyst in a hydroformylation reactor; and upon discharging the reaction product from the reactor, a) separating the discharged material into a gaseous phase and a liquid phase, b) separating the liquid phase into a top fraction containing unconverted olefins and aldehydes and a bottoms fraction containing the rhodium catalyst, and c) cooling the bottoms fraction below the temperature of the material discharged from the hydroformylation reactor and feeding a gas containing carbon monoxide into the bottoms fraction.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.