The invention provides a preparation process of (2E)-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyl) cinnamyl
aldehyde. The preparation process comprises the following steps: (1) adding 3-hydroxy-4-methoxyl
benzaldehyde into an alkaline
aqueous solution, and dissolving the 3-hydroxy-4-methoxyl
benzaldehyde for later use; (2) introducing the solution obtained in the step (1) into a first inlet of a
continuous flow reactor, wherein the flow velocity is 150.0-220mL / min; a
vinyl acetate or
acetaldehyde solution is introduced into a second inlet of the
continuous flow reactor, the flow velocity is 10-30 mL / min, the
retention time of the reaction solution in the
continuous flow reactor is 5-10 min, and the
reaction temperature is 50-100 DEG C; (3) adding reaction liquid of the continuous flow reactor into a reaction kettle for
quenching under stirring; (4) after reaction
quenching, filtering and collecting a precipitated
solid crude product; (5) refluxing the obtained crude product in
methanol, cooling, filtering and collecting the separated
solid; and
drying in vacuum until the weight is constant to obtain the (2E)-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyl) cinnamyl
aldehyde. According to the process, generation of dark impurities is avoided, the appearance quality and yield of the product are improved, continuous flow reaction is adopted, amplification is easy, and the amplification effect is avoided.