CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF UNSATURATED KETONE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To continuously produce an unsaturated ketone in high yield for a short time in a single reactor without using a medium-boiling material by reacting an unsaturated alcohol with an alkyl acetoacetate in the presence of an organic aluminum compound. SOLUTION: The purpose of this invention is achieved by reacting an unsaturated alcohol of formula I [R1 is a 1-4C alkyl; R2 is a (methoxy-substituted) (1-37C) aliphatic hydrocarbon group or the like] with an alkyl acetoacetate of formula II (R3 is a 1-5C alkyl) on the internal structure of a rectifier to form an acetoacetate of an unsaturated alcohol, by separating an alcohol of the formula R3-OH from the overhead flow of the rectifier, and (A) by making the resultant acetoacetate of an alcohol of formula I rearrange into an unsaturated ketone of formula III in the presence of an organic aluminum compound (pref. an aluminum trialkoxide) in the lower part of the rectifier and/or (B) by feeding carbon dioxide formed each time at the bottom of the rectifier to the overhead flow through the rectifier and by separating an unsaturated ketone of formula III from the rectifier through the bottom.