Patent ID: 6995275

Claim:
A process for preparing an ink jet ink composition, the process comprising the steps of: i) preparing Nsubstituted-2-lactam (VI) using a process comprising the step of contacting a lactone (I) with a nitro compound (V) in the presence of hydrogen gas and a metal catalyst, the metal catalyst being optionally supported, and, optionally, in the presence of a solvent; wherein: (a) n=0–11; (b) R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and R 6 taken independently are hydrogen, hydrocarbyl or substituted hydrocarbyl, C 1 to C 18 unsubstituted or substituted alkyl, unsubstituted or substituted alkenyl, unsubstituted or substituted cycloalkyl, unsubstituted or substituted cycloalkyl containing at least one heteroatom, unsubstituted or substituted aryl, or unsubstituted or substituted heteroaryl; (c) R 9 is C 1 –C 30 unsubstituted or substituted alkyl, C 2 –C 30 unsubstituted or substituted alkenyl, C 2 –C 30 unsubstituted or substituted alkynyl, C 3 –C 30 unsubstituted or substituted cycloalkyl, or C 3 –C 30 unsubstituted or substituted cycloalkyl containing at least one heteroatom; and ii) contacting N-substituted-2-lactam (VI) with at least one colorant.