METHOD FOR PREPARING MERCAPTANS WITH SULFHYDROLYSIS OF PURIFIED DIALKYL SULFIDES

The present invention relates to a process for preparing at least one mercaptan, comprising the following steps:A) H2S and at least one alcohol are introduced into a first reactor;B) the H2S and said at least one alcohol are reacted to obtain an outlet stream comprising at least one mercaptan, at least one dialkyl sulfide and at least one dialkyl disulfide (DADS) and possibly unreacted H2S;C) said outlet stream obtained from step B) is separated into:a stream F1 comprising the mercaptan(s),a stream F2 comprising the dialkyl sulfide(s) and the DADS(s), andoptionally a stream F3 comprising H2S;D) a purification step is performed on stream F2 in order to separate:a stream F2′ comprising the dialkyl sulfide(s); andthe DADS(s);E) stream F2′ is introduced with H2S into a second reactor;F) a sulfhydrolysis reaction of the dialkyl sulfide(s) with H2S is performed to obtain an outlet stream F4 comprising said mercaptan(s), and possibly unreacted H2S;G) optionally, stream F4 obtained from step F) is recycled into step A).