Appeal No. 1997-2797
Application 08/199,286
the pH does not rise above 9 throughout the reaction". In
contrast, the process of Regitz effects halogenation to form
phosphonium salts which are then isolated and converted by a
suitable base into the desired phosphorane product. It is the
examiner's fundamental position that it would have been
obvious to modify this prior art process in such a manner that
the chlorine and base are "fed to the reaction mixture
concurrently but separately at the rates at which they are
consumed, such that pH does not rise above 9" as required by
appealed claim 1.
As support for this position, the examiner urges that
"[t]he disclosed reaction [of Regitz] is sufficient to
motivate one of skill in the art to carry out the process as
claimed, as the presence of the base is to neutralize the acid
formed by the reaction of chlorine and phosphorane" and that,
"[a]s to applicants' requirement that the base and chlorine be
added to the reaction mixture concurrently but separately, at
the rates which they are consumed, one of skill would
recognize that in order to maintain the neutrality of the
acid, addition of base and chlorine would have to be at the
rate of consumption", (answer, page 3). We agree with the
-3-
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