Patent ID: 7553995

Claim:
A process for the production of tertiary ethers, the process comprising: feeding a hydrocarbon steam comprising isoolefins and propionitrile to a distillation column reactor system containing at least one etherification reaction zone containing an etherification catalyst; feeding a C 2 to C 6 monoalcohol or mixture thereof to the distillation column reactor system; concurrently in the distillation column reactor system: reacting a portion of the isoolefins with a portion of the alcohols to form a tertiary ether; and separating the tertiary ether from unreacted isoolefins; withdrawing the tertiary ether and propionitrile from the distillation column reactor system as a bottoms; withdrawing the unreacted isoolefins from the distillation column reactor system as an overheads; and operating the distillation column reactor system such that the etherification reaction zone is substantially free of propionitrile.