METHOD FOR PRODUCING HYDROXYKETONE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for producing a hydroxyketone such as 4-hydroxy-2-butanone with a simple facility under a mild condition in high yield while suppressing the quantity of by-product such as the condensation product (e.g. diacetone alcohol) of the ketone used as a raw material. SOLUTION: The hydroxyketone expressed by R1-CO-C(H)(R2)-CH2OH (R1is an alkyl; and R2is H or an alkyl) is produced by reacting a ketone expressed by R1-CO-CH2-R2(R1and R2are the same as those described above) with paraformaldehyde in the presence of a basic catalyst and <2 mass% water based on the mass of the ketone. COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI