Hydrogen Cyanide → Isophorone

Participants

Reaction Steps

To 622 g (4.5 mol) of isophorone in the presence of 4 g (0.021 mol) of triethylmethylammonium methylcarbonate there are added 288.3 g of a mixture of 3 mol of HCN and 1.5 mol of isophorone, over a period of 120 min and at a reaction temperature of 120° C. The HCN conversion at the end of the reaction is 99.9%. Following neutralization with 2.4g of H3PO4 the mixture is distilled. There are obtained 424.1 g of isophorone and 479.2 g of 3-cyano-3,5,5-trimethylcyclohexanone: the distillation residues weigh 12.8 g, this is equivalent to 1.4% based on the crude product used. The 3-cyano-3,5,5-trimethylcyclohexanone yield is thus 96.7% and the isophorone selectivity 99%.

Provenance & Evidence