1,4-Butanediol was obtained in high yield by hydroformylation of acrolein acetal in the presence of the Rh-diphosphine catalysts, followed by subsequent hydrolysis/hydrogenatian of the products over Ru and heteropolyacid catalysts supported on carbon. 2,3-O-Isopropylidene-2,3-dihydroxy-1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino) butane was found to be a highly efficient ligand in the above hydroformylation reaction to produce the desired intermediate to 1,4-butanediol. Preliminary cost evaluation revealed that the method presented in this paper is promising for industrial application.