Process for the chlorination of a hydroxylated organic compound

Process for the chlorination of an organic compound comprising at least one aliphatic hydroxyl group, said process comprising the steps of actively adding to said organic compound (i) hydrogen chloride and (ii) a HCl desolubilizer or a precursor thereof, and heating the resulting mixture at a reaction temperature in the range 20°-160° C., wherein said chlorination is performed in the presence of a catalyst selected from the group consisting of (a) ketones, (b) aldehydes, (c) carboxylic acids with 1-8 carbon atoms, (d) organic compounds comprising a -diketone moiety or a -keto aldehyde moiety, and (e) organic polymers comprising at least one carbonyl group, having a vapor pressure at the reaction temperature of less than 1 mbar, a weight average molecular weight Mw of 500 g/mole or more, and are soluble in the reaction mixture at the reaction temperature, and wherein the HCl desolubilizer is an alkali metal chloride salt, an alkaline earth metal chloride salt, or an acid.