Separation of methoxyisopropylamine from methoxyisopropylamine-water azeotrope

In a process for the preparation of a purified methoxyisopropylamine product wherein methoxyisopropanol is reacted with ammonia under amination conditions to form a crude methoxyisopropylamine in water reaction product and the methoxyisopropylamine recovered therefrom, the improvement for obtaining essentially anhydrous methoxyisopropylamine which comprises:

• a) distilling unreacted ammonia from said crude reaction product;
• and obtaining a crude methoxyisopropylamine;
• b) distilling low boiling impurities from said crude methoxyisopropylamine and removing an azeotrope of methoxyisopropylamine in water;
• c) contacting the azeotrope of methoxyisopropylamine and water with diisopropylamine in sufficient proportion to form a diisopropylamine-water azeotrope;
• d) distilling said azeotrope of diisopropylamine in water from the azeotrope of methoxyisopropylamine in water and recovering an overhead essentially free of methoxyisopropylamine and a bottoms containing methoxyisopropylamine and essentially free of water;
• e) decanting the overhead of liquid diisopropylamine as an upper organic layer and a lower aqueous layer essentially free of diisopropylamine and,
• f) distilling the bottoms obtained from step (d) and obtaining an essentially purified methoxyisopropylamine product.