Abstract: Provided are processes for making an amide of a carboxylic acid by reacting an amine of the formula (I) H—NR1R2??(I) wherein R1 and R2 are the same or different, R1 comprising a C1-C4-alkyl, and R2 comprising hydrogen or a C1-C4-alkyl, the amine having a lower boiling point than water, with a carboxylic acid with at least 3 carbon atoms per molecule, said carboxylic acid optionally comprising at least one alcoholic hydroxyl group per molecule, and selecting a molar ratio of amine to carboxylic acid in the range of from 1.5:1 to 1:1. The reaction step occurs under temperature and pressure conditions at which water and amine according to formula (I) are gaseous, and in a single reactor, the water formed together with any unreacted amine is distilled off, any unreacted amine is separated from the water and said the unreacted amine is reintroduced into the reaction mixture.

Abstract: The disclosed invention relates to a countercurrent process for the continuous esterification of C1-22 (fatty) acids with C1-10 monoalkanols, C2-5 di- or trialkanols or mixtures thereof in the liquid phase in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts in a preliminary reactor (1) and in a reaction column (3), characterized in that the reaction column (3) is preceded by the preliminary reactor (1) and a separation unit (2) for the purpose of reducing the viscosity of the reaction mixture and removing the water of reaction from the system via a separation unit (2) to displace the reaction equilibrium before the reaction column (3). A further aspect of the invention concerns feeding nitrogen in at the lowermost plate of the reaction column (3) in order to increase the vapor load in the lower part of the reaction column.