Patent ID: 7459139

Claim:
A process for preparing a brominating reagent by the oxidation of a source of bromide ions to bromate ions, comprising (i) dissolving an alkali in de-ionized water to form an alkali solution (ii) mixing a source of bromide ions with the alkali solution to form a reaction mixture (iii) purging the reaction mixture with chlorine gas or flue chlorine gas at a rate of 100 to 1000 ml per minute for 6 to 8 hours to provide a purged reaction mixture (iv) diluting the purged reaction mixture with 2 to 3 times v/v of the source of bromide ions to provide a diluted purged reaction mixture (v) evaporating water from the diluted purged reaction mixture to obtain a solid brominating reagent and drying the solid brominating reagent at a temperature in the range of 55 to 80° C.