Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.

Hisakazu Shindou

Hiroshi Yamamoto

Tadahiro Yoneda

Hideaki Tsuneki

Masatoshi Yoshida

Masaru Kirishiki

Yoshitaka Arita

Yoshiaki Urano

Tomoharu Oku

Hirokazu Itoh

Fumiaki Morishita

Yukihide Hashimoto

In producing alkanolamines by use of a microporous material as a catalyst, the difficulty in industrially performing the production because of the short lifetime of the catalyst is resolved. A process of regenerating the catalyst by removing an organic substance deposited on the catalyst by means of decomposing and/or extracting the substance is introduced, and thereby steady production is carried out substantially over the long term by switching the reaction and the regenerating processes.

Method of producing alkanolamines and apparatus for producing same

An unsaturated aldehyde expressed by Formula (I) below is hydrated with a solution in the presence of a carboxylic-acid-based resin having of a structure expressed by Formula (II) below: ##STR1## where R represents one of a hydrogen atom and a hydrocarbon group having up to five carbons; ##STR2## where R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 respectively represent a hydrogen atom, hydrocarbon group having up to five carbons, or --(--CH.sub.2 --).sub.p1 --X group, p.sub.1, k.sub.1, and m.sub.1 respectively represent an integer from zero to six, n.sub.1 represents an integer from one to six, Y.sub.1 represents --O--, --S--, or --NR.sub.3 --, R.sub.3 represents a hydrogen atom or hydrocarbon group having up to five carbons, and X represents a carboxylic-acid-based resin main body. Using a heat-resistant catalyst as above makest it possible to increase the reaction rate by heating, and produce hydroxyalkanal at high selectivity and yield out of an industrially advantageous high-concentration unsaturated aldehyde solution.

Process of producing hydroxyalkanal

A process of producing hydroxyalkanal comprises a step of hydrating a raw material, namely, an unsaturated aldehyde, in an aqueous solution in the presence of a lead-carrying heterogeneous acid catalyst promoting the hydration reaction. According to the above method, the lead-carrying heterogeneous acid catalyst curbs the consecutive reaction of the reaction product, namely, hydroxyalkanal. Thus, hydroxyalkanal can be produced with high selectivity at high yield out of a high-concentration unsaturated aldehyde solution. Moreover, the catalyst can be used repetitively for a considerable period of continuous use in a stable manner, thereby further improving the yield of hydroxyalkanal.

In a process of producing hydroxyalkanal, a raw material, namely, an unsaturated aldehyde, is hydrated with a solution in the presence of a catalyst, and alcohol is added to the solution. A adding amount of the alcohol with respect to the unsaturated aldehyde is preferably in a range between 0.001 percent by weight and 10 percent by weight. According to this process, a consecutive reaction (side reaction) of a reaction product, namely, hydroxyalkanal, is curbed by the alcohol added to the solution, thereby making it possible to produce hydroxyalkanal at high selectivity out of a high-density unsaturated aldehyde solution. Therefore, the above process can trigger a reaction of an industrially advantageous unsaturated aldehyde solution, and thus improves the yield of hydroxyalkanal.

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Suita, Japan

Hisakazu Shindou