Patent ID: 7629484

Claim:
A method for separating one or more triorganophosphite components from a crude phosphite mixture containing acidic hydrolysis products, said method comprising: contacting said crude phosphite mixture with a basic additive to produce a second mixture comprising a first phase and a second phase, wherein said first phase comprises the basic additive and the acidic hydrolysis products, wherein the acidic hydrolysis products comprise one or more components independently selected from the group consisting of (R 2 O)(R 3 O)POH, (R 1 )(HO)PO(H) and H 3 PO 3 , wherein R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are independently selected from the group consisting of C 1 to C 18 alkyl, C 6 to C 18 aryl and hydroxyaryl, and C 3 to C 18 cycloalkyl and hydroxyalkyl radicals, and wherein R 2 and R 3 can optionally be connected to each other directly by a chemical bond or through an intermediate divalent group R 9 ; and said second phase comprises the one or more triorganophosphite components, the triorganophosphite components are independently selected from the group consisting of (R 4 O)(R 5 O)P(OR 6 ) and ((R 7 O)(R 8 O)PO) n A, wherein R 4 , R 6 , R 6 , R 7 and R 8 are independently selected from the group consisting of C 1 to C 18 alkyl, C 6 to C 18 aryl and C 3 to C 18 cycloalkyl radicals, wherein each of R 4 , R 5 and R 6 can optionally be connected to one or both of the other two directly by a chemical bond or through an intermediate divalent group R 10 , wherein R 7 and R 8 can optionally be connected to each other directly by a chemical bond or through an intermediate divalent group R 11 , wherein A is an optionally substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, aromatic or heteroaromatic radical, wherein n is an integer greater than 1; and wherein R 9 , R 10 , and R 11 are independently selected from the group consisting of —O—, —S—, and —CH(R 12 )—, wherein R 12 is selected from the group consisting of H, C 6 to C 18 aryl, and C 1 to C 18 alkyl.