Synthesis of ethylene glycol from carbon monoxide and hydrogen using a ruthenium complex catalyst and a pyridine base ligand

Claim 1

In a process for the selective production of ethylene glycol from carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst, the improvement which comprises contacting carbon monoxide and hydrogen with a catalyst consisting essentially of a catalytic amount of a ruthenium complex catalyst selected from the group consisting of ruthenium tris (acetylacetonate), ruthenium trihydroxide, and mixtures thereof; and a pyridine base ligand, wherein the carbon monoxide and hydrogen are in a molar ratio of from about 1:10 to about 10:1, the ruthenium complex catalyst concentration is from about 1×10 -6 gm moles/liter to about 1 gm mole/liter based on the reaction mixture, the ruthenium complex catalyst and ligand are in a molar ratio of from about 1:1 to about 1:10, the reaction pressure is from about 10,000 psig to about 50,000 psig, and the reaction temperature is in the range of about 100° to about 600° C.