PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF AMINONITRILES

摘要

A process for preparing an alpha aminonitrile comprises providing a cyclic or acyclic aliphatic ketone in a reactor, adding ammonia to the reactor, mixing the ketone and the ammonia, and adding hydrogen cyanide to the reactor to convert the hydrogen cyanide to an aminonitrile. Preferably, the reactor is purged with ammonia before the addition of hydrogen cyanide. The hydrogen cyanide may be added to the reactor at a constant rate, or it may be added to the reactor at a rate that decreases over time. A portion of the ketone may be added to the reactor during the addition of the hydrogen cyanide to the reactor.