Appeal No. 1997-3738
Application No. 08/469,741
Significantly, caprolactams are not even mentioned as suitable
leaving groups among many specific leaving groups which are
disclosed.
Moreover, Burns appears to teach away from using
caprolactams as leaving groups by suggesting that the pKa
value of the conjugate acid of the leaving group should be in
the range of about 4 through 13 (see Burns at col. 4, l. 9-
16). The examiner does not refute appellants' assertion that
the conjugate acid of caprolactam has a pKa of above 14, which
is outside the pKa range generally considered suitable for a
leaving group according to Burns.
In view of the foregoing, we find it unnecessary to
discuss the other references cited by the examiner (Gray and
Cottrell) since they do not provide the requisite motivation
lacking in the combination of Castrantas with Brocklehurst.
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