Method for producing alpha,beta-unsaturated c10-aldehydes

The invention relates to a method for continuously producing alpha,beta-unsaturated C10-aldehydes from aliphatic C5-aldehydes, comprising the following steps: aldol-condensing aliphatic C5-aldehydes into alpha,beta-unsaturated C10-aldehydes in the presence of an aqueous base in a tube reactor; phase separating the output of the tube reactor into an aqueous catalyst phase and an organic product phase; separating the organic product phase into alpha,beta-unsaturated C10-aldehydes, aliphatic C5-aldehydes, and auxiliary products; discharging a part of the aqueous catalyst phase to remove the reaction water and supplementing said part with liquor solution and subsequently returning said part to the tube reactor. The task of the invention is to improve a method of said kind in a way such that it requires lower energy input. This is achieved in that the aliphatic C5-aldehydes and/or the alpha,beta-unsaturated C10-aldehydes are dispersed in the aqueous base as drops, wherein the average Sauter diameter of the drops is between 0.2 mm and 2 mm.