| abstract |
The invention provides a process for hydrocyanation, comprising: contacting 2-pentenenitrile with hydrogen cyanide at a temperature in the range of about 0° C. to about 150° C. in the presence of at least one Lewis acid promoter and a catalyst precursor composition, wherein the catalyst precursor composition comprises a zero-valent nickel and at least one bidentate phosphite ligand selected from a member of the group represented by Formula I and Formula II, in which all like reference characters have the same meaning, except as further explicitly limited: n nwherein R 1 and R 5 are independently selected from the group consisting of C 1 to C 5 hydrocarbyl; and R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 6 , R 7 and R 8 are independently selected from the group consisting of H and C 1 to C 4 hydrocarbyl. |