Patent ID: 7799571

Claim:
A method for monitoring or detecting the conversion of N-phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid to N-phosphonomethyl)glycine or another intermediate for N-phosphonomethyl)glycine in the course of the catalytic oxidation of N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid in an aqueous medium, the method comprising: monitoring the aminomethylphosphonic acid content of said aqueous medium for aminomethylphosphonic concentration and/or rate of aminomethylphosphonic acid production data; and determining the conversion or identifying an end point of the reaction based on the aminomethylphosphonic acid content of said medium, wherein the conversion or end point is identified based on historical data correlating the rate of change in said aminomethylphosphonic acid content data with the conversion or residual N-(phosphonomethyl) iminodiacetic acid content of the aqueous liquid medium, wherein the conversion or end point is determined after at least 95% of the N-(phosphonomethyl) iminodiacetic acid has been converted.