Patent ID: 6875888

Claim:
A process for preparing an ester of an unsaturated carboxylic acid, comprising: reacting an ester of the unsaturated carboxylic acid and a C 1 -C 4 -alkanol with an alcohol R 3 OH, where R 3 is a C 4 -C 20 -alkyl radical, a C 5 -C 7 -cycloalkyl radical, a phenyl-C 1 -C 4 -alkyl radical or a C 2 -C 12 -alkyl radical substituted by at least one NR 5 R 5 group or by from 1 to 3 hydroxyl groups or C 1 -C 4 -alkoxyl groups or interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms, where the radicals R 5 are, independently of one another, C 1 -C 6 -alkyl or together with the nitrogen atom form a 5- to 7-membered heterocyclic ring which may contain a further nitrogen or oxygen atom, in the presence of a transesterification catalyst comprising at least one metal alkanolate that has at least one OR 1 group, where R 1 is a 2,2,6,6-tetraalkyl-1-oxylpiperidin-4-yl radical, and wherein the metal of the metal alkanolate is at least metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, aluminum, vanadium, an alkali metal or of an alkaline earth metal.