Patent ID: 8367874

Claim:
A process for producing a 2-(1-hydroxyalkyl) cycloalkanone by subjecting a cycloalkanone and an alkyl aldehyde to aldol condensation in the presence of water and a base catalyst, the process comprising: (i): continuously mixing the cycloalkanone and the alkyl aldehyde in the water and the base catalyst to form a reaction system and allow the cycloalkanone and alkyl aldehyde to react with each other; (ii): continuously withdrawing the reaction mixture produced in (i) out of the reaction system while allowing the reaction to proceed, wherein an amount of the reaction mixture withdrawn is from 1.2 to 2 times a total amount of the cycloalkanone and alkyl aldehyde added in terms of a volume ratio there between; and (iii): adding an additional amount of water containing the base catalyst to the reaction system to maintain a constant concentration of the base catalyst and/or a constant amount of water in the reaction system while allowing the reaction to proceed.