| abstract |
A process for producing N,N'-carbonyldiimidazole by reacting phosgene, diphosgene, or triphosgene with imidazole in an inert solvent, characterized in that a gaseous or liquid basic compound represented by the following general formula (1) is added in an inert solvent to the imidazole hydrochloride yielded as a by-product of that reaction to conduct neutralization reaction and the imidazole thus generated is circulated and used as a starting material for N,N'-carbonyldiimidazole production. In the general formula (1), R1, R2, and R3 each independently represents hydrogen, methyl, or ethyl. The CDI produced by the process is a compound useful in the fields of medicine synthesis, agrichemical synthesis, peptide synthesis, etc. for intermolecular condensation reactions, intramolecular condensation reactions for synthesizing, e.g., N-carboxy anhydrides, production of activated esters, etc. It is especially suitable for use in applications where colorlessness is required. |