Aldehydes with a higher number of carbon atoms and high selection are prepared by reacting olefins, in particular from petrochemical refinery products, by a hydroformylation with aldol condensation using a mixed catalyst of rhodium-carbonyl-phosphines and Mannich catalyst.
The present invention provides an improved process for the synthesis of .alpha.-substituted acroleins from olefins by a tandem hydroformylation and Mannich reaction sequence in the presence of syngas and formaldehyde, wherein the two catalysts are segregated into two different phases thereby preventing deactivation of the catalysts by each other, and yielding a highly selective and active catalyst.
The present invention provides a novel eco-friendly multi-functional catalyst system useful to obtain C.sub.2(n+1) aldol-derivative from C.sub.n-alkenes where n ranges from 2 to 10 in a single step under hydroformylation reaction conditions and adol formation conditions.
