PATENT

3062. -----[RUHRCHEMIE, A.G.] [Process for Producing Carboxylic Acids or Their Salts From Esters.] German Patent Appl. --, R 684, filed July 23, 1943. FIAT Reel Appl. frames 7,915-7,917; PB 73,587; TOM Reel 37, bag 3,451, item 36, 3 pp.; Meyer Transl. PC-S-V, Oxo vol. 2, chap. 36, 1948. p. 14.

Carboxylic acids or their salts are prepared from esters, without the side production of alcohols, by melting the esters with the amount of caustic alkali required for the neutralization of the acid components and for the dehydrogenation of the alcohol components.  The reaction is carried out at an initial gas pressure of >1 atm., preferably at 5-20 atm.  Suitable raw materials for this purpose are the naturally occurring esters of high molecular weight fatty acids and alcohols or synthetic esters of known composition from products of CO hydrogenation of from the catalytic addition of water gas to olefins.  The preparation of carboxylic acids or their salts from esters, in accordance with the invention, offers special advantages for the production of high-grade toilet soaps