Recovery of caprolactam from oligomer and/or polymer of caprolactam

PURPOSE: To provide a method for recovering caprolactam by cleaving oligomers and/or polymers of caprolactam and reacting the by-products. CONSTITUTION: This method for recovering caprolactam comprises; cleaving oligomers and/or polymers of caprolactam, and distilling caprolactam obtained in the cleavage, and further comprises; (a) cleaving oligomers and/or polymers of caprolactam to obtain an aqueous reaction mixture which contains caprolactam, (b) removing water from the reaction mixture obtained in the step (a) to obtain a residue, (c) distilling the residue obtained in the step (b) in an acidic atmosphere, and (d) distilling the distillate in an alkaline atmosphere to obtain caprolactam. COPYRIGHT: (C)1996,JPO