Process for producing methyl alpha -hydroxyisobutyrate

摘要

There is disclosed a process for efficiently producing methyl alpha -hydroxyisobutyrate from alpha -hydroxyisobutyramide and methyl formate by means of reaction distillation which comprises feeding alpha -hydroxyisobutyramide and an alkali metal hydroxide in a continuous distillation column to prepare therein the dehydrated condensate of alpha -hydroxyisobutyramide with the alkali metal hydroxide as the catalyst and reacting remaining alpha -hydroxyisobutyramide with methyl formate in the presence of the dehydrated condensate as the catalyst. According to the above process, the objective methyl alpha -hydroxyisobutyrate is continuously obtained in high yield and high selectivity without any operational trouble.