Butanal → 2,2-Bis(hydroxymethyl)butanal

Reaction equation

[CH2:1]([C:3]([CH2:8][OH:9])([CH2:6][OH:7])[CH2:4][CH3:5])[OH:2].C(=O)CCC.C=O>>[CH2:6]([C:3]([CH2:8][OH:9])([CH2:4][CH3:5])[CH:1]=[O:2])[OH:7].[CH2:6]([CH:3]([CH2:4][CH3:5])[CH:1]=[O:2])[OH:7]

Participants

Reactant 3

HCID 261Butanal

HCID 712Formaldehyde

HCID 6510Trimethylolpropane

Product 2

HCID 110516932,2-Bis(hydroxymethyl)butanal

HCID 14512532HCID 14512532, compound

Procedure

The industrial preparation of trimethylolpropane (TMP) starts out from n-butyraldehyde and formaldehyde that are reacted in a two-stage reaction process. In a first reaction step, 2,2-dimethylolbutanal is formed first in a base-catalyzed aldol condensation via the intermediate 2-methylolbutanal. In a subsequent cross Cannizzaro reaction, trimethylol-propane together with formate salts are formed in the presence of stoichiometric amounts of a base.