| abstract |
The invention concerns a process for preparing tetrahydrofuran by reacting 1,4-butene diol diethers of formulae (I) -RO-CH2-CH=CH-CH2-OR and/or (II) -RO-CH2-CH2=CH-CH2-OR, in which the R groups can be identical or different and stand for C1-C15 alkyl or cycloalkyl groups, C6-C12 aryl groups or C7-C15 aralkyl groups, with water and hydrogen at temperatures of between 20 and 300 DEG C and a pressure of between 1 and 300 bar in the presence of catalysts or catalyst combinations which both contain components which can hydrogenate and comprise acid or basic centres. The invention further concerns a novel process for preparing the 1,4-butene diol diethers of formula (I) by metathesis. |