Patent ID: 7754900

Claim:
A process comprising: providing a reactive distillation column having an upper region, a middle region and a lower region; feeding ethylene glycol and an aqueous formaldehyde solution into the reactive distillation column in the middle region of the reactive distillation column wherein ethylene glycol is fed into the reactive distillation column in a molar excess over formaldehyde in the aqueous formaldehyde solution and at an entry point above the aqueous formaldehyde solution such that the ethylene glycol is present in an amount greater than 25% by weight; reacting the ethylene glycol and the aqueous formaldehyde solution in the reactive distillation column in the presence of a catalyst to form dioxolane; removing a product stream comprising dioxolane in an amount of at least 95% by weight from the upper region of the reactive distillation column; and removing a bottom stream comprising one or more components having boiling points higher than dioxolane from the lower region of the reactive distillation column.