Process for preparing α-hydroxycarboxylate
AssigneeMitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc.
InventorsKenichi Nakamura, Futoshi Kawataka, Kazuhiro Yamada, Wataru Ueno
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Abstract
There is herein disclosed a process for efficiently preparing, from an α-hydroxycarboxylic amide and an alcohol in an industrially advantageous manner, an α-hydroxycarboxylate which is useful as any of raw materials for solvents, food additives, perfumes, various organic medicines and the like. According to the present invention, there is provided a process for preparing an α-hydroxycarboxylate which comprises the step of reacting an α-hydroxycarboxylic amide and an alcohol in the presence of a catalyst in a liquid phase, while an ammonia concentration in a reaction solution is maintained at 0.1% by weight or less by discharging generated ammonia as a gas into a gaseous phase.
Claims18
A process for preparing an α-hydroxycarboxylate which comprises the step of reacting an α-hydroxycarboxylic amide and an alcohol in the presence of a catalyst in a liquid phase, while an ammonia concentration in a reaction solution is maintained at 0.1% by weight or less by discharging generated ammonia as a gas into a gaseous phase, wherein the reaction solution is drawn from a reactor and introduced into a first distillation section;
- the unreacted alcohol and the produced α-hydroxycarboxylate are separated as vaporized components;
- a part or all of the unvaporized material is introduced into a second distillation section;
- an α-hydroxycarboxylic(N-alkyl) amide is separated as a vaporized component;
- and a part or all of the unvaporized material is circulated to the reactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.