Alkaline hydrolysis of dicyclohexyl adipate in the production of cyclohexanone for caprolactam synthesis

Kinetic characteristics have been determined and a mathematic model has been proposed for the alkaline hydrolysis reaction of dicyclohexyl adipate, a sterically hindered ester, under phase-transfer catalysis conditions; energy characteristics have been compared for the hydrolysis under heterogeneous (with and without a phase-transfer catalyst (PTC)) and homogeneous conditions. It has been demonstrated that a 90–95% conversion of the reactant can be achieved in the presence of 0.015–0.02 mol/L methyl trioctyl ammonium chloride (TOMAC, Aliquat-336) at 80–90°C over 90–120 min.