PROCESS FOR PRODUCING 2-HYDROXY-4-METHYLTHIOBUTANEAMIDE

摘要

Provided is a process capable of producing an amide (A): by hydrating a nitrile (B) at high conversion in relatively short period of time even without use of high-capacity cooling apparatuses (25, 35) and a large amount of inorganic acid (D). In the process for the present invention, a nitrile (B) is hydrated in continuous mode in the presence of an inorganic acid (D) so as to give a conversion of 80% to 98%, and the unreacted nitrile contained in the resultant hydrated reaction liquid (E) is hydrated in batch-wise mode so as to give a conversion of 99.9% or more, thereby producing an amide (A). For example, the inorganic acid (D) is sulfuric acid and the use amount thereof is 0.5 to 1-fold mol with respect to the nitrile (B), and the temperature in hydration is 40 to 70°C, and hydration is performed in continuous mode using a tubular reactor (2c), loop reactor (2d) and the like. The resultant amide (A) can be hydrolyzed to produce a thiobutanoic acid (G).