&bgr;-isophorone is formed by isomerizing &agr;-isophorone in the presence of an isomerizing catalyst (an aliphatic C
5-20
polycarboxylic acid) in an isomerizing-reaction unit
1.
The &bgr;-isophorone thus formed is oxidized with oxygen in an inert solvent in the presence of an oxidizing catalyst (a complex salt of a transition metal and an N,N′-disalicylidenediamine) in an oxidizing-reaction unit
2,
thereby forming ketoisophorone. After removing a low-boiling point component, which is an impurity (non-conjugated cyclic ketone), from the reaction mixture using a distilling unit 3, a high-boiling component (oxidizing catalyst) is separated in a distilling unit
4
, and then ketoisophorone is separated from the solvent in the separation unit
5.
Thereafter, the solvent containing 0 to 5,000 ppm (weight basis) of the impurities and substantially free from ketoisophorone is recycled to the oxidizing reaction through a recycling line
6.
According to the present invention, the combination of the isomerizing reaction and the oxidizing reaction makes it possible to produce ketoisophorone from &agr;-isophorone while maintaining the activity of the oxidizing catalyst.
&bgr;-
异佛尔酮是通过在异构化反应装置1中,在异构化催化剂(脂肪族C5-20多
羧酸)的存在下,将&agr;-
异佛尔酮异构化形成的。然后,在氧化反应装置2中,在氧化催化剂(过渡
金属的复杂盐和N,N'-二
水杨基二胺)的存在下,将&Bgr;-
异佛尔酮与
氧气在惰性溶剂中氧化,从而形成酮
异佛尔酮。使用蒸馏装置3从反应混合物中去除低沸点成分(非共轭环状酮)作为杂质后,使用蒸馏装置4分离高沸点成分(氧化催化剂),然后使用分离装置5从溶剂中分离出酮
异佛尔酮。此后,含有0至5,000 ppm(重量基础)杂质且基本不含酮
异佛尔酮的溶剂通过回收线6循环到氧化反应中。根据本发明,异构化反应和氧化反应的组合使得能够在保持氧化催化剂活性的同时从&agr;-
异佛尔酮中生产酮
异佛尔酮。