A process for separating a homogeneous metathesis catalyst and,
optionally, one or more homogeneous metathesis catalyst degradation
products from a metathesis reaction mixture containing in addition to
said metathesis catalyst and said metathesis catalyst degradation
product(s), one or more olefin metathesis products, one or more
unconverted reactant olefins, and optionally, a solvent. The process
involves contacting the metathesis reaction mixture with a nanofiltration
membrane, such as a polyimide nanofiltration membrane, so as to recover a
permeate containing a substantial portion of the olefin reaction
products, the unconverted reactant olefins, and optional solvent, and a
retentate containing the metathesis catalyst, and optionally, metathesis
catalyst degradation product(s). In another aspect, this invention
pertains to a continuous metathesis reaction-catalyst separation process,
preferably, conducted in a nanofiltration membrane reactor.