Process of making acids or esters from unsaturated compounds

Claim 1

A process for making compounds containing carboxylic acid or carboxylic ester groups which comprises reacting an aliphatically unsaturated compound with carbon monoxide and with a hydroxy compound which is water or a primary or a secondary alcohol in the presence of a catalytic amount of a catalyst system composed of a palladium compound having the formula: (PR.sub.3).sub.2 PdXY wherein X is chlorine or bromine, Y is hydrogen, chlorine, bromine, lower alkyl, aralkyl, acyl of 2 to 4 carbon atoms or aryl of up to 12 carbons, and each R is selected from lower alkyl, cycloalkyl of 3 to 8 carbon atoms, lower alkoxy or aryl of up to 12 carbon atoms substituted with up to 3 halogen atoms or lower alkoxy groups, aralkyl groups of up to 12 carbon atoms, arylthio groups or aryloxy groups, each of up to 12 carbon atoms, lower alkylthio, di(lower alkyl)amino, pyrrolidino, piperidino groups and vinyl groups, with the proviso that not more than one aromatic group attached to phosphorus has a substituent in a sterically hindering position, and from 0.5 to 5 moles of a promoter per mole of said palladium compound selected from chlorides of Ti,-Tl,[Ni, Fe,] Cr,[Co,] Pd, Zn, Mn or Cu and halogen tin compounds; said unsaturated compounds being subject to the following provisos: (i) ethylenic groups must have at least two hydrogen substituents (ii) the unsaturated groups are not conjugated with other aliphatic unsaturation, (iii) halogen or hydroxyl, if present, must be removed by at least 2 carbon atoms from the double bond, and (iv) the unsaturated compounds are free of amine groups.