Appeal No: 2000-0635
Application No: 08/511,028
argued, they stand or fall together." In re Beattie, 974 F.2d
1309, 1311, 24 USPQ2d 1040, 1041 (Fed. Cir. 1992).
Claim 1 is illustrative of the claimed invention and
reads as follows:
1. A continuous, single-stage process for
the production of a dinitrotoluene isomer mixture
comprising
A) reacting
1) toluene
with
2) a nitrating acid composed of
(a) from about 80 to about 100% by
weight of inorganic constituents
which include
(i) from about 60 to about 90%
by weight of sulfuric acid,
(ii) from about 1 to about
20% by weight of nitric acid,
and
(iii) at least 5% by weight of
water,
and
(b) from 0 to about 20% by weight of
organic constituents which
include
(i) at least 70% by weight
dinitrotoluene isomers and
(ii) from 0 to about 30% by
weight
by-products
under adiabatic conditions in amounts such
that the molar ratio of nitric acid to
toluene is at least 1.5:1 and such
that some mononitrotoluene will remain in
the reaction mixture,
B) removing at least 5% by weight of
water from the reaction mixture of A),
C) removing the reaction mixture of B) at
a temperature of at least 120E C,
-2-
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