Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

A process is described for the production of substantially pure gamma-butyrolactone from a feed mixture containing a major amount of gamma-butyrolactone and a minor amount of diethyl succinate which comprises fractionally distilling the mixture in a fractionation zone in the presence of added diethyl maleate and recovering from the fractionation zone an overhead vaporous product comprising gamma-butyrolactone which is substantially free from diethyl succinate and a liquid bottom product comprising diethyl maleate and diethyl succinate in admixture one with another. This procedure can be used to separate a gamma-butyrolactone rich fraction obtained by distillation in one or more stages of a crude reaction product obtained by hydrogenation of a C.sub.4 dicarboxylic acid ester feedstock that contains a major molar amount of diethyl maleate and a minor molar amount of diethyl succinate, using a diethyl maleate feedstock from an esterification plant to provide both diethyl maleate for use in the fractionation zone and also diethyl maleate for use as feedstock for the hydrogenation process.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim