Appeal No. 2002-0440
Application 09/113,547
Braun discloses a method for preparing a carboxylic acid
n+ - n+
ester by reacting a carboxylic anhydride with M (Hal ) , where Mn
can be an onium cation and Hal is chloride, bromide or iodide,-
to produce a carboxylic acid halide (which can be the appellants’
acid chloride) and a carboxylate salt (which can be the
appellants’ onium salt), and reacting this product with an
alcohol to form the ester (col. 1, lines 64-65; col. 2, lines 7-
15; col. 3, lines 57-60). The molar ratio of alcohol to
carboxylic acid halide advantageously is between 0.9:1 and 5:1
(col. 5, lines 19-21). The onium salt can be present in a
catalytic amount (col. 5, lines 28-29). Braun teaches that the
method is particularly well suited for preparing esters of
trifluoroacetic acid or chlorodifluoroacetic acid using an
alcohol which can be methanol or ethanol (col. 5, lines 8-13).
Braun does not disclose selecting the molar ratio of alcohol
to acid chloride such that two phases can form, one of which is
an ester phase, and separating the phases. For a suggestion to1
do so the examiner relies upon Feist.
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