The New Production Process for N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (NVP) consists of two stages: the synthesis of N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-pyrrolidone (HEP) from γ-butyrolactone (GBL) and monoethanolamine (MEA), and the vapor-phase dehydration of HEP to NVP. The key features of this technology are the dehydration catalyst and the vapor-phase reaction system. The catalyst is of very simple composition, being alkali (or alkaline earth) metal oxides–SiO2. Though its acid and base strengths are very weak, its catalytic performance is high. An IR spectroscopic study of the HEP-adsorbed catalyst indicated that the isolated silanol of the catalyst surface plays an important role.