Process for producing methyl methacrylate

Abstract

There is disclosed a process for producing methyl methacrylate through gas-phase catalytic reaction of methyl α-hydroxyisobutyrate as the starting raw material which process comprises feeding methanol in an amount by weight of 0.1 to 3.0 times the amount of the methyl α-hydroxyisobutyrate in a reaction system along therewith and proceeding with the gas-phase catalytic reaction in the presence of a catalyst comprising a synthetic faujasite zeolite having a free alkali content of at most 0.1 milliequivalent/g or a catalyst comprising a molded product which is formed by molding a synthetic faujasite zeolite through the use of a clay whose aqueous solution or suspension has a pH of less than 9. According to the above process, it is made possible to produce methyl methacrylate in high yield over a long period of time by the use of methyl α-hydroxyisobutyrate as the starting raw material.