A process for the manufacture of an acetylenically unsaturated alcohol comprising reacting formaldehyde, an aldehyde or a ketone (a carbonyl compound) with acetylene in the presence of ammonia and an alkali metal hydroxide, the molar ratio of the alkali metal hydroxide to the carbonyl compound being less than 1 : 200. The reaction products, which depending on the starting carbonyl compound are propargyl alcohol or 1-monosubstituted or 1,1-disubstituted derivatives thereof, are of use as intermediates in the synthesis of many useful end products, inter alia in the field of vitamins and carotenoids.
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