| abstract |
This disclosure relates to methods for producing purified aromatic esters useful as plasticizers, to the purified aromatic esters, and to polymer compositions containing the purified esters. The purified aromatic esters can be produced by esterifying carboxylic acid with methyl or ethyl alcohol, separating the resulting methyl or ethyl esters from the carboxylic acid and any byproduct impurities, and then transesterifying the methyl or ethyl esters with C 4 to C 14 alcohol to produce the purified aromatic esters. Additionally, precipitation, filtration, and wash steps can be employed to purify the carboxylic acid, the methyl or ethyl alcohol, and/or the aromatic esters. |