Conversion of nitrile compounds into corresponding carboxylic acids and esters

A process for the production of a carboxylic acid having from 4 to 10 carbon atoms by hydrating the nitrile functional groups of an organic compound into amide functional groups and hydrolysis of such amide functional groups into carboxyl functional groups, and which comprises:

• conducting said hydration stage by reaction with water in the presence of a strong inorganic acid employing from 1 to 1.5 mol of water per mole of nitrile functional group to be hydrated, in the presence of a strong inorganic acid, at a temperature which maintains the reaction medium in the liquid state;
• conducting said hydrolysis stage with stirring employing from 1 to 10 mol of water per mole of amide functional group to be hydrolyzed and an amount of strong inorganic acid, expressed as protons and corresponding to at least 1 mol of protons per mole of amide to be hydrolyzed, the temperature of the reaction medium being such as to maintain the reaction medium in the liquid state;
• and
• recovering the carboxylic acid thus formed by maintaining the reaction medium, without stirring, at a temperature greater than the melting point of the carboxylic acid and/or of the salt formed to separate the reaction medium by settling into an upper phase and a lower phase and recovering the upper phase comprising the carboxylic acid.