PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HYDROXY-PIVALDEHYDE

A process for the production of hydroxy-pivaldehyde which comprises reacting formaldehyde with isobutyraldehyde in an approximate molar ratio of 1:2 in the presence of a catalytic amount of triethylamine, to produce a reaction mixture containing 42 to 50 wt% of hydroxy-pivaldehyde, 28 to 35 wt% of isubutyraldehyde, approximately 18 wt% of water, approximately 2 wt% of triethylamine, and approximately 18 wt% of secondary reaction products, and recovering hydroxy-pivaldehyde therefrom. The recovery steps include adding at least one part by weight of water to 1 part of the solution, distilling the solution obtained under reduced pressure at a temperature below 65 DEG C, to produce a distillate containing isobutyraldehyde, triethylamine and water, and an aqueous solution containing hydroxy-pivaldehyde, cooling the aqueous solution containing hydroxy-pivaldehyde, cooling the aqueous solution containing hydroxy-pivaldehyde to approximately 15 DEG to 20 DEG C to cause the crystallization of hydroxy-pivaldehyde, filtering off the crystals obtained, washing the crystals with cold water and then drying the crystals in air, and subjecting the mother liquors from the crystallization to liquid-liquid extraction at ambient temperature using approximately one volume of isobutyraldehyde to 3 volumes of the mother liquor.