Aldol condensation of refluxing acetone on CaC achieves efficient coproduction of diacetone alcohol, mesityl oxide and isophorone.

Efficient production of diacetone alcohol (DAA), mesityl oxide (MO) and isophorone (IP) is important for the high value utilization of acetone. For this, a novel process is proposed for the aldol condensation of acetone by refluxing on CaC, whereby 95% of total selectivity of (DAA, MO and IP) and 85% of acetone conversion are achieved simultaneously under mild conditions (56 °C, 100 kPa). This result is superior to the previously reported ones, which may be ascribed to the extremely high catalytic capacity of CaC for the aldol condensation and instant separation of the target products from the catalyst to suppress the unwanted successive condensations. Moreover, the target products may be adjusted by operation conditions. Lower temperature and higher reflux rate favour the production of DAA and MO; MO and IP are favoured otherwise. The present process integrates several functions into one unit, the basic catalysis of calcium carbide, aldol condensation of acetone, instant distillation separation of the condensates, and the hydrolysis of CaC to CH, which makes it feasible to coproduce CH and high value derivatives of acetone simultaneously.