Patent ID: 7732644

Claim:
A process for producing an α,β-unsaturated aldehyde compound, comprising: subjecting two different aldehyde compounds to a cross condensation reaction in the presence of an amine and a protonic acid having 6 to 20 carbon atoms or a salt thereof; wherein the two different aldehyde compounds are aldehyde compound I and aldehyde compound II represented by formula (I) and formula (II) respectively R 1 —CHO (I) R 2 —CHO (II) wherein R 1 and R 2 are different; R 1 is a linear or branched alkyl group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms, a linear or branched alkenyl group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms, or an alicyclic structure-containing group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms; and R 2 is a hydrogen atom, a linear or branched alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a linear or branched alkenyl group having 3 to 6 carbon atoms, or an alicyclic structure-containing group having 3 to 6 carbon atoms; or R 1 is an aromatic ring structure-containing group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms, or a heterocyclic structure-containing group; and R 2 is a hydrogen atom, a linear or branched alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, or a linear or branched alkenyl group having 3 to 10 carbon atoms; and when the aldehyde compound II is HCHO, the resultant α,β-unsaturated aldehyde compound is a compound represented by formula (III-a) wherein R 1a —C is a residual group of R 1 in the formula (I) which is obtained by removing two hydrogen atoms bonded to a carbon atom being located at the α position of R 1 therefrom; and when the aldehyde compound II is an aldehyde compound other than HCHO, the resultant α,β-unsaturated aldehyde compound is a compound represented by formula (III-b) wherein R 2a —C is a residual group of R 2 in the formula (II) which is obtained by removing two hydrogen atoms bonded to a carbon atom being located at the α position of R 2 therefrom, and R 1 is as defined in formula (I).