Patent ID: 8921618

Claim:
A method of reclaiming trimethylolpropane from purification residue comprising hydrolyzing a purification residue with an aqueous medium in the presence of (i) an acid and (ii) an oxidizing agent to reclaim trimethylolpropane from one or more TMP-formals selected from: monocyclic TMP-formal (MCF); Formula I: monolinear bis-TMP-formal (MBLF); Formula II: [C 2 H 5 C(CH 2 OH) 2 CH 2 O] 2 CH 2 (II) Methyl-(monolinear)TMP-formal; Formula III C 2 H 5 C(CH 2 OH) 2 CH 2 OCH 2 OCH 3 (III) Methyl-(bislinear)TMP-formal; Formula IV C 2 H 5 C(CH 2 OH) 2 CH 2 OCH 2 OCH 2 OCH 3 (IV) and the cyclic formal of di-TMP; Formula V: wherein the hydrolysis reaction is carried out at a pH of from 1 to 4 and wherein the oxidizing agent is supplied to the hydrolysis reaction in an amount of from 2 wt % to 40 wt % based on the dry weight of the purification residue.