Patent ID: 7129362

Claim:
A process for preparing a reaction product comprising 5-methyl-N-aryl-2-pyrrolidone (III), 5-methyl-N-cycloalkyl-2-pyrrolidone (IV), or a mixture thereof, which comprises the step of contacting in the liquid phase at a temperature of from about 50° C. to about 300° C. a levulinic acid ester (I) with an aryl amine (II) in the presence of hydrogen gas and a catalyst, the catalyst being optionally supported on a catalyst support, and, optionally, said contacting is performed in the presence of a solvent, and wherein said contacting is carried out at a hydrogen pressure of from about 0.3 MPa to about 20 MPa, and wherein the compound represented by Formula (II) and the compound represented by Formula (I) are in a molar ratio of from about 0.01/1 to about 100/1 at the start of the reaction; wherein R 1 is an aromatic group having from 6 to 30 carbons, R 2 is hydrocarbyl or substituted hydrocarbyl, C 1 –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, and unsubstituted or substituted heteroaryl, and R 3 is a fully or partially reduced derivative of R 1 , provided that the contacting is carried out for a time sufficient to produce at least some of the compound represented by Formula (IV); and further provided that the catalyst is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Rh, Ru, Ir, Pt and Pd, provided that if the catalyst is Pd, Pt or a combination thereof, the process is carried out in the presence of a solvent.