Process for manufacturing carbonyl compounds by oxidation with molecular oxygen of olefinic compounds in liquid phase in the presence of soluble bimetallic catalysts

Claim 1

In a liquid phase process for producing carbonyl compounds by oxidation with molecular oxygen of olefins of the formula CH 2 ═ CH -- R 2 containing 3-16 carbon atoms per molecule wherein R 2 is an alkyl, aryl, alkylaryl or aralkyl, which process is performed in the presence of a catalytic system comprising both at least one compound (A) of the formula M 1 X n L m , and at least one compound (B) of the formula M 2 Z p L' q , X is an anionic group being a halogen, a carboxylate, a sulfate, a nitrate, a perchlorate, a thiocyanate, a tetrafluoroborate, an acetylacetonate or a cyclopentadienyl, Z is an anionic group being a halogen, a carboxylate, a sulfate, a nitrate, a perchlorate or a tetrafluoroborate, n, m and p are integers selected from 1, 2 and 3, M 2 is a metal being iron, cobalt, nickel or copper, q is zero or an integer from 1 to 6, inclusive, L is a coordinate being H 2 O, a mono-olefin, a poly-olefin, a phosphine, dimethylsulfoxide or acetylacetonate, and L' is a coordinate being H 2 O, dimethylformamide, hexamethylphosphoramide or dimethylsulfoxide, wherein the improvement comprises conducting the said process under maintained anhydrous conditions in an anhydrous organic solvent selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, 2-butanol, 3,3-dimethyl-2-butanol, 2-octanol, cyclohexanol, methyl phenyl carbinol, ethylene glycol, 1,2-propane diol, glycerol and glycol monomethyl ether, and wherein M 1 is rhodium.