Patent ID: 8703995
Filing Date: 2014-04-22
Classification: C07C

Abstract:
1. A method of preparing an alkyl (meth)acrylate which comprises the steps of: carrying out an esterification reaction with reactants comprising an alkanol and (meth)acrylic acid in the presence of an organic acid catalyst with a conversion rate of 70% or more; supplying reaction products of the esterification reaction to a distillation tower equipped with a reboiler at the lower end to purify them; recovering a upper discharge comprising an alkyl (meth)acrylate and water at the upper part of the distillation tower and recovering a lower discharge comprising high boiling materials and water at the lower part of the distillation tower; separating the lower discharge of the distillation tower into a water layer and an organic layer; and recirculating the water layer separated from the lower discharge so as to be used in the esterification reaction, wherein each of the steps occurs continuously wherein the lower discharge of the distillation tower includes water in an amount of 2-25% by weight with respect to the total weight of the lower discharge, and wherein the amount of water included in the lower discharge of the distillation tower is controlled by supplying water from the upper part of the distillation tower in an amount of 1.01-1.20 times the weight of the water included in the upper discharge coming out from the upper part of the distillation tower.