Production of aldehydes and alcohols

Claim 1

IN A PROCESS WHEREIN 2-ETHYLHEXANOL IS PRODUCED BY REACTING PROPYLENE WITH CARBON MONOXIDE AND HYDROGEN IN THE PRESENCE OF CO-CATALYSTS COMPRISING 0.05 TO 2 WT. PERCENT COBALT AND 0.02 TO 1.5 WT. PERCENT ZINC, CALCULATED AS METAL ON FRESH OLEFIN FEED, IN A REACTION ZONE MAINTAINED AT A TEMPERATURE IN THE RANGE OF 200* TO 1450*F. AND AT A PRESSURE BETWEEN ABOUT 2000 AND 5000 P.S.I.G., SAID COBALT AND ZINC BEING ADDED TO SAID REACTION ZONE IN DISSOLVED FORM AS THE METAL SALTS OF OLEIC ACIDS TO PRODUCE A CRUDE MIXTURE CONTAINING C4 AND C8 ALDEHYES, AND SAID C8 ALDEHYDES ARE SEPARATED FROM SAID CURDE MIXTURE AND HYDROGENATED TO PRODUCE A MIXTURE OF C8 ALCOHOLS, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES SEPARATING SAID MIXTURE OF C8 ALCOHOLS INTO A 2-ETHYL ISOHEXANOL FRACTION AND A 2-ETHYLHEXANOL FRACTION DISSOLVING SAID COBALT AND ZINC SALTS IN SAID 2-ETHYL ISOHEXANOL FRACTION, AND RECYCLING A PORTION OF SAID 2-ETHYL ISOHEXANOL FRACTION CONTAINING DISSOLVED THEREIN SAID COBALT AND ZINC SALTS TO SAID REACTION ZONE.