Patent ID: 7649112

Claim:
A method comprising the steps of: contacting a feed stream comprising a methacrolein precursor and a first oxidizing stream comprising oxygen in the presence of a first oxidation catalyst to form an unsaturated aldehyde stream comprising methacrolein, contacting an alkene stream comprising propene and a syn gas stream comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide in the presence of a hydroformylation catalyst to form a saturated aldehyde stream comprising n-butanal and iso-butanal, separating the saturated aldehyde stream into an isobutanal-containing stream (IBA-stream) comprising iso-butanal and an n-butanal-containing stream (NBA-stream) comprising n-butanal, and contacting the unsaturated aldehyde stream, the IBA-stream and a second oxidizing stream comprising oxygen in the presence of a second oxidation catalyst to produce a methacrylic acid-containing stream (MAA-stream) comprising methacrylic acid.