Intensification of cyclohexanone purification stage from impurities in caprolactam production using phase transfer catalysis

Impurities in the oxidate, which was produced in the oxidation of cyclohexane in an industrial environment, were analyzed and identified. It is found that the amount of esters and ethers is 30% of the impurities produced, among which a cyclohexyl ethers amount is more than 50%. The process of purifying the oxidate from the impurities by hydrolysis in the presence of phase transfer catalysts and without them was studied. It has been shown that the use of trioctylmethyl ammonium chloride (Aliquat-336) in the the stage of saponification of esters enabled a removal of 90–96% of esters with reducing of reaction time in a 1.5-fold, in contrast to non-catalytic process.