A process for the production of acrylic acid from methanol and acetic acid

A process for the production of acrylic acid from methanol and acetic acid, comprising (i) contacting a gaseous substance stream containing methanol S0, oxygen and inert gas with an oxidation catalyst to obtain a gaseous material stream S1 comprising formaldehyde and inert gas; (Ii) separating at least a portion of the inert gas contained in S1 of at least a portion of the formaldehyde contained in S1 by absorption of this formaldehyde in an absorbent to obtain a gaseous substance stream S2 containing the separated part of the inert gas and to obtain a material stream S3 containing absorbent and absorbate comprising formaldehyde; (Iii) optionally separating a portion or the total amount of the adsorbent contained in stream S3, so that the material flow S3, a stream S3a remains, and producing a material stream S4 from at least the stream S3 or the stream S3a and a stream S5 comprising acetic acid; and (iv) contacting the material stream S4 in gaseous form with an aldol condensation catalyst to obtain a gaseous material stream comprising acrylic acid S6.