Methyl Methacrylate from t-Butanol

t-Butanol has been evaluated as a feedstock for making methacrolein for oxidation to methacrylic acid and methyl methacrylate. The process is a variation of the process that uses isobutylene. In the first step, t-butanol is oxidized to methacrolein. Methacrolein is further oxidized to methacrylic acid, which is esterified with methanol.

This review presents a preliminary process design for the first step and economics for the entire process for making 250 million lb/yr of methyl methacrylate t-butanol. SRI's evaluation indicates that the t-butanol process may be more economical than the acetone cyanohydrin process.