| abstract |
In a process for producing n-butylalkyl ethers, (a) 1,3-butadiene or a butadiene-containing hydrocarbon mixture is reacted with an alcohol of formula ROH (I), in which the radical R is a C2-C20 alkyl or alkenyl group substituted or not with 1 to 2 C1-C10 alkoxy or hydroxy groups, a C6-C10 aryl or C7-C11 aralkyl group or a methyl group, at an increased temperature and pressure in the presence of a Brönsted acid or in the presence of a complex of an element of groups Ib, VIIb or VIIIb of the periodic table of elements with a phosphorus- or nitrogen-containing ligand, yielding a mixture of addition products of formulas (II) and (III); (b) the isomers are separated; (c) addition product III is isomerised into addition product II; (d) addition product II is hydrogenated in the presence of a homogeneous or heterogeneous transition metal element catalyst in the liquid phase or in the presence of a heterogeneous, transition metal element-containing catalyst in the gas phase, yielding n-butylalkyl ether of formula (IV). |