| abstract |
The invention relates to a method for producing C 1 -C 4 -oxygenates from a reactant stream (A), which essentially comprises a C 1 -C 4 -alkane or a mixture of C 1 -C 4 -alkanes, wherein a) a partial stream (B) of the reactant stream (A) is branched and is allowed to react in a reactor with oxygen or a gas stream (C) containing oxygen, wherein a part of the C 1 -C 4 -alkane or a part of the mixture comprising C 1 -C 4 -alkane is converted to C 1 -C 4 -oxygenates, b) at least 90 mol-% of the formed C 1 -C 4 -oxygenate is separated from the product stream (D) resulting from step a), forming a remaining low boiler stream (E), characterized in that the low boiler stream (E) is combined with the reactant stream (A), without further treatment and without combining with the partial stream (B), downstream of the branching point of the partial stream (B). |