Separation of mixtures which contain a non-volatile complex catalyst

Claim 1

IN A PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ALCOHOLS WHEREIN AN OLEFIN AND CARBON MONOXIDE ARE PASSED INTO A REACTION MIXTURE CONTAINING WATER AND CONTAINING A NONVOLATILE COMPLEX CATALYST FORMED BY MIXING AN IRON CARBONYL, WATER, AND AN AMINE, IN WHICH PROCESS UNDESIRABLE BY-PRODUCTS ARE CNTINUOUSLY FORMED, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES: STOPPING THE FLOW OF OLEFIN INTO THE REACTION MIXTURE AS SOON AS THE LEVEL OF SAID UNDERSIRABLE BY-PRODUCTS REACHES A POINT BETWEEN ABOUT 3 AND 15% BY WEIGHT, CONDUCTING A STREAM OF CARBON MONOXIDE THROUGH SAID REACTION MIXTURE AT A TEMPERATURE OF BETWEEN 70* AND 130*C. AND AT A PRESSURE BETWEEN ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AND 40 ATMOSPHERES, WHEREBY SAID COMPLEX CATALYST IS DECOMPOSED INTO IRON CARBONYL AND AN AMINE AND WHEREBY SAID IRON CARBONYL IS CARRIED OUT OF SAID REACTION MIXTURE ALONG WITH SAID CARBON MONOXIDE GAS; AND CONDENSING IRON CARBONYL FROM THE EFFLUENT GAS.