Patent ID: 6992195

Claim:
A process for preparing an ink jet ink composition, the process comprising the steps of: i) preparing N-cycloalkyl-2-lactam (IV) using a process comprising the step of contacting a lactone (I) with an aryl amine (II) in the presence of hydrogen gas and a metal catalyst, the metal catalyst being optionally supported, and, optionally, in the presence of a solvent; wherein: (a) n=0–11; (b) R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and R 6 taken independently are hydrogen, hydrocarbyl or substituted hydrocarbyl, C 1 to C 18 unsubstituted or substituted alkyl, unsubstituted or substituted alkenyl, unsubstituted or substituted cycloalkyl, unsubstituted or substituted cycloalkyl containing at least one heteroatom, unsubstituted or substituted aryl, or unsubstituted or substituted heteroaryl; (c) R 7 is an aromatic group having from 6 to 30 carbons, and R 8 is a fully or partially reduced derivative of R 7 ; and ii) contacting N-cycloalkyl-2-lactam (IV) with at least one colorant.