Patent ID: 7547807

Claim:
A process for preparing a quaternary phosphonium salt comprising reacting a trialkyl-, trialkenyl- or triarylphosphine with an optionally substituted monounsaturated or polyunsaturated aliphatic, cycloaliphatic aromatic-aliphatic alcohol having from 3 to 25 carbon atoms or its carboxylic acid esters or ethers in the presence of an acid, or by reacting a trialkyl, trialkenyl- or triarylphosphine with an optionally substituted aliphatic, cycloaliphatic or aromatic-aliphatic halide having from 3 to 25 carbon atoms, wherein the reaction is conducted in a ternary solvent mixture, and wherein the quaternary phosphonium salt is of general formula I [R 1 —P(R 2 ) 3 ] + X − (I), where R 1 is an optionally substituted monounsaturated or polyunsaturated aliphatic, cycloaliphatic or aromatic-aliphatic group having from 3 to 25 carbon atoms, R 2 is an alkyl, alkenyl or aryl group having from 1 to 9 carbon atoms, X is an anion equivalent of an organic or inorganic acid and the trialkyl-, trialkenyl- or triarylphosphine is of general formula II P(R 2 ) 3 (II), where R 2 has the meaning given above, and the triakyl-, trialkenyl-, or triarylphosphine is reacted with a monounsaturated or polyunsaturated electophile of the general formula III or IV, where R 1 has the meaning given above, and R 1′ is an optionally substituted, aliphatic, cycloaliphatic or aromatic-aliphatic hydrocarbon group having from 1 to 21 carbon atoms, Y is OH, Cl, Br, O(CO)R 3 or OR 3 and R 3 is an aliphatic hydrocarbon group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and R 4 is H or CH 3 and, when an electrophile of the general formula IV is reacted, R 1 in formula I is a structural element of the general formula V where R 1′ and R 4 have the meanings given above.