Patent ID: 8309714

Claim:
A process for producing laurolactam, comprising the steps of: (a) reacting cyclododecanone with hydroxylamine in an aqueous solution in the presence of an organic solvent (“oxime-formation solvent”) to produce cyclododecanone oxime (“oxime-forming step”); (b) separating the reaction mixture obtained after the oxime-forming step into an oil and an aqueous phase and collecting a solution of cyclododecanone oxime of the oil phase (“oil/aqueous phase separation step”); (c) removing a part or all of the oxime-formation solvent and dissolved water from the solution of cyclododecanone oxime which is collected as an oil phase in the oil/aqueous phase separation step, thereby preparing a solution containing a solvent to be used in a rearrangement reaction in a later step (“rearrangement solvent”) for the cyclododecanone oxime (“dehydration/solvent preparation step”); (d) producing laurolactam from cyclododecanone oxime by a rearrangement reaction using an aromatic-ring containing compound selected from the group consisting of 4-chloro-3,5-dinitrobenzonitrile, picryl chloride, 2-chloro-3,5-dinitropyridine and trichlorotriazine as a rearrangement catalyst (“rearrangement step”); (e) separating and removing the rearrangement solvent and the rearrangement catalyst from the reaction mixture obtained after the rearrangement step; and purifying the laurolactam (“separation/purification step”).