Appeal No. 95-2331 Application No. 08/127,854 The subject matter on appeal relates to a process for the production of an alkyl formamide wherein the improvement comprises utilizing a polyethylene glycol as a solvent and utilizing an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal alkoxide of a polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol, polyethylenepropylene glycol or mixtures thereof as the catalyst. This appealed subject matter is adequately illustrated by independent claim 1 which reads as follows: 1. In a process for the production of an alkyl formamide, wherein a gas-containing carbon monoxide is reacted at elevated temperature and pressure in a reaction zone with a nitrogen- containing compounds [sic, compound] selected from the group consisting of ammonia, a primary alkylamine and a secondary alkylamine, in the presence of a solvent and a catalyst, the improvement which comprises: utilizing a polyethylene glycol as a solvent and utilizing an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal alkoxide of a polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, polyethylenepropylene glycol or mixtures thereof as the catalyst. The references relied upon by the examiner as evidence of obviousness are: Couteau et al. (Couteau) 4,098,820 Jul. 4, 1978 Epstein 4,761,499 Aug. 2, 1988 2Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007