Patent ID: 8581008

Claim:
A process for continuously preparing an α,β-unsaturated C 10 -aldehyde from an aliphatic C 5 -aldehyde, comprising: a) condensing by aldol condensation an aliphatic C 5 -aldehyde to give an α,β-unsaturated C 10 -aldehyde in the presence of an aqueous base in a tubular reactor; b) separating the output from the tubular reactor into an aqueous catalyst phase and an organic product phase; c) separating the organic product phase into α,β-unsaturated C 10 -aldehyde, aliphatic C 5 -aldehyde and by-products; d) discharging a portion of the aqueous catalyst phase to remove the water of reaction and supplementation with fresh base and subsequent recycling into the tubular reactor; wherein the aliphatic C 5 -aldehyde and/or the α,β-unsaturated C 10 -aldehyde are dispersed as droplets in the aqueous base; wherein the average Sauter diameter of the droplets is in the range from 0.2 mm to 1.54 mm.