Patent ID: 7956022

Claim:
A process for preparing an alkali metal alkylhydroxybenzoate reaction product, said process comprising: a) neutralizing at least one alkylphenol with an alkali metal base to form an alkali metal alkylphenate; and b) carboxylating the alkali metal alkylphenate with carbon dioxide to obtain an alkali metal alkylhydroxybenzoate reaction product; wherein at least one of the alkylphenol, alkylphenate and alkylhydroxybenzoate is reacted with a sulfur source to achieve a sulfur content in the range of about 0.1 to 1.2 wt % in the alkali metal alkylhydroxybenzoate reaction product, and wherein at least 50 mole % of the starting alkylphenol is converted to the alkali metal alkylhydroxybenzoate reaction product.