Process for catalytic conversion of olefinically unsaturated compounds with hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide

Claim 1

In a process for the hydroformylation of the olefinically unsaturated organic compound containing 2 to 20 carbon atoms to produce the corresponding aldehyde having an additional carbon atom by reaction of said compound with hydrogen and carbon monoxide at a temperature of between 20° C. and 300° C. and at a pressure of between 1 and 100 bar in the presence of a catalyst consisting of a solid, porous carrier in the pores of which a catalytically active metallo-organic complex, containing as the central metal atom at least one metal selected from the group consisting of rhodium, cobalt, ruthenium and iridium, dissolved in a solvent of low volatility under the reaction conditions, is present, the improvement comprising using a catalyst wherein said catalytically active metallo-organic complex is present in the pores of the carrier in the form of a solution in at least one ligand-forming electron-donating phosphorous compound with a vapor pressure of less than 15 mbar under the reaction conditions, having the formula PR 1 R 2 R 3 or P(OR 1 ) (OR 2 ) (OR 3 ) in which R 1 , R 2 and R 3 , independent of each other, or together, represent a C1 to C20 hydrocarbon group, the concentration of the complex being between 0.1 to 0.00001 moles of complex per liter of solvent.