Caprolactam → 6-Oxohexanoic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

A process for preparing ε-caprolactam is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,040. In this process, methyl 5-formylvalerate is first hydrolyzed (step a) in the presence of water and an acidic agent to yield 5-formylvaleric acid. In this process, the 5-formylvaleric acid is reductively aminated in water through contact with ammonia and hydrogen using a ruthenium/zirconium on alumina catalyst, a Raney Nickel catalyst or a Raney Cobalt catalyst to obtain a 6-aminocaproic acid containing reaction mixture. After separation of ammonia, the reaction mixture obtained from the reductive amination is heated to 300° C. to form ε-caprolactam by cyclization of the 6-aminocaproic acid.

Provenance & Evidence