Process for the preparation of trimethylolpropane

摘要

Trimethylolpropane is prepared in such a manner that butyraldehyde is metered into a mixture of water, alkaline condensing agent and formaldehyde, which contains less than 0.1 mol of methanol relative to 1 mol of formaldehyde, at temperatures from 15 DEG to 50 DEG C., and after addition of the butyraldehyde the reaction mixture is heated up to 90 DEG C., sufficient water being present in the reaction mixture so that the reaction mixture has a content of trimethylolpropane of 5 to 25% by weight after the reaction.