Abstract: Amines are prepared from an olefin and ammonia or a primary and/or secondary amine in the presence of a zeolite catalyst of the pentasil type. Iron silicate zeolites of the pentasil type having an SiO.sub.2 /Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio greater than or equal to 10 are preferably used.

Abstract: Amines are prepared from an olefin and ammonia or a primary or secondary amine, or a mixture of these, in the presence of a borosilicate or borogermanate zeolite of the pentasil type as a catalyst, by a process in which the amine obtained is isolated from the reaction mixture, and unreacted starting materials are recycled.

Abstract: .delta.-Formylvalerates are prepared by a process wherein a 3-pentenoate is treated with an isomerization catalyst at elevated temperatures and a 4-pentenoate is distilled off, and the resulting 4-pentenoate is reacted with carbon monoxide and hydrogen at from 80 to 160.degree. C. under from 1 to 30 bar in the presence of a rhodium carbonyl complex which has been modified with tertiary organic phosphines or phosphites.

Abstract: Carboxylates which contain aldehydes, acetals and/or unsaturated compounds and are obtained by reacting an olefinically unsaturated compound with carbon monoxide and an alkanol are purified by a process wherein the said carboxylates are treated with hydrogen at elevated temperatures in the presence of an acidic ion exchanger or zeolite doped with one or more metals of group VIII of the periodic table, and the resulting low and/or high boilers are separated off by distillation.

Abstract: Ethanol is produced continuously via the carbonylation of methanol, by(a) carbonylating methanol, in a reactor R, in the presence of a carbonyl complex of a metal of group VIII of the periodic table and of a halogen compound,(b) separating, in a distillation column D1, the reactor discharge, into a top fraction comprising methyl acetate, methanol, dimethyl ether and an organohalogen compound, and into a bottom fraction comprising water, small quantities of acetic acid and the catalyst, if the latter is not in a fixed bed, the residence time being so adjusted that the greater part of the acetic acid reacts with the methanol present to give methyl acetate,(c) separating the top fraction from D1, in a distillation column D2, into a top fraction comprising small quantities of methyl acetate, methanol, dimethyl ether and the organo-halogen compound, and a bottom fraction comprising methyl acetate and methanol, and recycling the top fraction to reactor R,(d) distilling off, via the top of distillation column D3, th

Abstract: A process for purifying carboxylic acid esters which have been obtained by reacting olefinically unsaturated compounds with carbon monoxide and alkanols and which contain aldehydes or acetals, wherein the said esters are treated with a strongly acidic agent, with or without addition of water.

Abstract: A process for the preparation of C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 -alkyl pent-3-enoates, wherein butadiene, or a hydrocarbon mixture containing butadiene, either of which contains not more than 0.1% by weight of butynes, is reacted with carbon monoxide and an alkanol of 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the presence of a cobalt carbonyl catalyst and a tertiary nitrogen base, having a pK.sub.A of 3-11, at from 100.degree. to 140.degree. C. under a pressure of from 300 to 1,000 bar.

Abstract: A process for the preparation of butanedicarboxylic acid esters, wherein(a) an aqueous cobalt salt solution is treated with excess carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of active charcoal laden with cobalt carbonyl,(b) the resulting aqueous solution of cobalt carbonyl hydride is extracted with butadiene or a butadiene containing hydrocarbon mixture and the aqueous phase is separated off,(c) the butadiene, or butadiene/hydrocarbon mixture, containing cobalt carbonyl hydride, cobalt carbonyl and butenyl-cobalt tricarbonyl, is reacted with carbon monoxide and excess C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 -alkanol in the presence of a tertiary nitrogen base,(d) the resulting reaction mixture is freed from the tertiary nitrogen base contained therein, down to a content of from 0.1 to 0.3 mole per mole of pentenoic acid ester, and from excess hydrocarbons, and the pentenoic acid ester remaining in the reaction mixture is reacted with carbon monoxide and excess C.sub.1 -C.sub.