PURPOSE: To obtain the titled compound utilizable in various fields such as organic synthetic raw material, solvent, plastic raw material, etc., in high esterification ratio, by reacting a carboxylic acid with an acetal in the presence of a solid acid catalyst in gaseous phase.
CONSTITUTION: A carboxylic acid is made to react with an acetal at a molar ratio (carboxylic acid/acetal) of 2/1W1/5 in the presence of a solid acid catalyst (e.g. alumina, silica, zeolite, etc.) in gaseous phase at 150W400°C, preferably 200W400°C and the reaction product is successively extracted and distilled to separate and recover the unreacted acetal, carboxylic acid ester, hemiacetal and minor components. The recovered hemiacetal is added with an alcohol corresponding to the alkyl group of the hemiacetal and made to react in the presence of a liquid acid catalyst (e.g. sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, etc.) to convert the hemiacetal into acetal, which is reused as a raw material.
YAMAMOTO YASUO
TAMURA YUTAKA
HIGUCHI YASUSHI
