Separation processes

US6294700A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology LLC · US

Inventors

• Jeffrey Scott Kanel · Kingsport, US
• John N. Argyropoulos · Midland, US
• Ailene Gardner Phillips · Charleston, US
• Brian Michael Roesch · Cross Lanes, US
• John R. Briggs · Charleston, US
• Max Min Lee · Charleston, US
• John Michael Maher · Charleston, US
• David R. Bryant · South Charleston, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 15, 2000
• Grant date: Sep 25, 2001
• Expiry date: Mar 15, 2020

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y02P20/582
• WIPO field: Organic fine chemistry
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

This invention relates to a process for separating one or more products from a reaction product fluid comprising a metal-organophosphorus ligand complex catalyst, optionally free organophosphorus ligand, said one or more products, one or more polar reaction solvents and one or more nonpolar reaction solvents, wherein said process comprises (1) subjecting said reaction product fluid to fractional countercurrent extraction with at least two immiscible extraction solvents, said at least two immiscible extraction solvents comprising at least one polar extraction solvent and at least one nonpolar extraction solvent, to obtain a polar phase comprising said metal-organophosphorus ligand complex catalyst, said optionally free organophosphorus ligand, said one or more polar reaction solvents and said at least one polar extraction solvent and a nonpolar phase comprising said one or more products, said one or more nonpolar reaction solvents and said at least one nonpolar extraction solvent, and (2) recovering said nonpolar phase from said polar phase; wherein (i) the organophosphorus ligand has a partition coefficient Kp1 defined herein between the polar phase and the nonpolar phase of greate…