Patent ID: 8546600

Claim:
A process for preparing a bisphosphite, the process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting phosphorus trichloride with a first aromatic diol represented by the formula: wherein: m is zero, 1 or 2; R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 and R 8 are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, and C 1 -C 10 substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyl moieties; and wherein optionally, R 2 is bonded to R 3 to form a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbylene moiety so as to form a 5- or 6-membered ring; and/or optionally, R 4 is bonded to R 5 to form a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbylene moiety so as to form a 5- or 6-membered ring, in the presence of a second aromatic diol represented by the formula: wherein: R 9 and R 16 are each independently selected from C 1 -C 10 substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyl moieties, R 10 through R 15 are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, and C 1 -C 10 substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyl moieties, and wherein optionally, R 11 is bonded to R 12 to form a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbylene moiety so as to form a 5- or 6-membered ring; and/or optionally, R 13 is bonded to R 14 to form a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbylene moiety so as to form a 5- or 6-membered ring; the contacting being conducted in a slurry comprising portions of both first and second aromatic diols in solid forms and comprising a solution phase comprising the remaining portions of both first and second aromatic diols and an organic solvent, wherein the slurry comprises less than 5 mole percent of a nitrogen base, calculated on total moles of the first aromatic diol, and the organic solvent has a low hydrogen chloride solubility; the contacting being conducted under reaction conditions sufficient to produce a first mixture comprising a phosphoromonochloridite represented by the formula: wherein m and R 1 through R 8 have the definitions given hereinabove, the second aromatic diol and excess phosphorous trichloride; (b) removing the excess phosphorous trichloride from the first mixture to obtain a second mixture comprising the phosphoromonochloridite and the second aromatic diol; and (c) adding a nitrogen base to the second mixture under conditions sufficient to react the second aromatic diol with the phosphoromonochloridite to produce a bisphosphite represented by the formula: wherein m and R 1 through R 16 are as defined hereinabove.