Esters of amino carboxylic acids and a process to prepare them

A process to prepare an ester, said method comprising the steps of:

• reacting via ring-opening alcoholysis:
• a cyclic amide chosen from caprolactam, pyrrolidine-2-one, and combinations thereof, and
• an alkanol chosen from 2-ethylhexanol, isodecanol, and combinations thereof,
• in the presence of a Brønsted-Lowry acid chosen from hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, and combinations thereof,
• at a temperature of between 60 and 200° C.,
• wherein the molar ratio of the alkanol to the Brønsted-Lowry acid is from about 1.01:0.3 to about 1.01:1,
• wherein the total molar amount of cyclic amide to the molar amount of the alkanol is between 1:0.9 and 1:1.1,
• wherein the Brønsted-Lowry acid is not added to the cyclic amide and/or alkanol until at least 50% of the total of the alkanol and cyclic amide are combined, wherein the cyclic amide and the alkanol are combined before addition of the Brønsted-Lowry acid such that a molar amount of water present in the combination to the total moles of cyclic amide in the combination is between about 0 and about 2 mole %;
• and
• wherein the process is free of an organic solvent.