| abstract |
In an improved process for telomerizing butadiene, contact butadiene and an organic hydroxy compound represented by formula ROH (I), wherein R is a substituted or unsubstituted C 1 -C 20 -hydrocarbyl and the organic hydroxy compound is not glycerol, in a reaction fluid in the presence of a palladium catalyst and a phosphine ligand represented by formula PAr 3 (II), wherein each Ar is independently a substituted or unsubstituted aryl having a hydrogen atom on at least one ortho position, at least two Ar groups are ortho-hydrocarbyloxyl substituted aryls. The phosphine ligand has a total of two (2), three (3), four (4), five (5), or six (6) substituted or unsubstituted C 1 -C 20 -hydrocarbyloxyls, and optionally, any two adjacent substituents on an Ar group can be bonded to form a 5- to 7-membered ring. |