Patent ID: 7241916

Claim:
A method of producing a methacrylic acid ester of an alcohol or a phenol which comprises carrying out an ester-exchange reaction between methyl methacrylate and the alcohol or the phenol while removing by-product methanol as an azeotropic mixture with methyl methacrylate from the reaction system via a distillation column under reflux conditions, by the use of a reaction apparatus equipped with the distillation column, wherein the reaction is carried out while controlling the reflux ratio so that the temperature of the uppermost stage in the distillation column is from 63 to 68° C., the temperature of the middle stage in the distillation column is from 68 to 90° C., and the temperature of the lowest stage in the distillation column is from 90 to 100° C. in terms of the temperatures at normal pressure, while the conversion of the alcohol or the phenol is within the range of 10 to 90%.