Patent 7524995 was granted and assigned to E.I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company on April, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A continuous process for producing hexafluoroisopropanol is provided which comprises contacting hexafluoroacetone with hexafluoroisopropanol and hydrogen to produce a liquid feed stream; introducing the liquid feed stream to a reactor containing an immobilized hydrogenation catalyst to convert the hexafluoroacetone to hexafluoroisopropanol and provide a product stream; and recovering at least a portion of the hexafluoroisopropanol from the product stream. Preferably a portion of the product stream is recycled. The reactor can be a packed bed or stirred tank reactor.