Phosphate esters are manufactured in large volume for use as plasticizers. There are many other organic phosphorus compounds of great scientific and technical interest, but most of them are not produced in large quantities.
Methyl parathion is one of the most important insecticides.
It was chosen as a representative cyclic phosphorus insecticide. Malathion, also an important insecticide, is an acyclic phosphorous compound. Recent information on production is given, patents are reviewed and process costs are estimated. Information on physical properties and toxicology of the products is given in the appendices. The older PEP reports' abstracts are listed to provide a complete historical archive of PEP reports.