Ethyl Corporation

Albemarle Corporation

John R Maloney

Joe D Sauer

Venkataraman Ramachandran

Ralph W Magin

Robert I Davidson

Glyphosate formulations which are effective even when employed at dosages below the dosage currently recommended for post-emergent herbicidal or plant growth regulant use are described. They are formulated as water solutions or powders or granules of (a) one or more agriculturally acceptable amine, alkali metal, alkylsulfonium, alkylphosphonium, sulfonylamine, and/or aminoguanidine salts of glyphosate; and (b) one or more water-soluble polyethoxylated monohydric primary alcohol having a .beta.-branched alkyl group which has a total of at least about 10 carbon atoms and at least about 3 carbon atoms in the branch on the .beta.-carbon atom or agriculturally acceptable salt or ester thereof.

Glyphosate compositions comprising polyethoxylated monohydric primary

Glyphosate formulations which are effective even when employed at dosages below the dosage currently recommended for post-emergent herbicidal or plant growth regulant use are described. They are formulated as water solutions or powders or granules of (a) one or more agriculturally acceptable amine, alkali metal, alkylsulfonium, alkylphosphonium, sulfonylamine, and/or aminoguanidine salts of glyphosate as the only herbicide(s) used in the forming composition; and (b) one or more water-soluble particular types of aliphatic hydrocarbyl sulfonic acid or agriculturally acceptable salt or ester thereof as the only surfactants used in forming the composition. The hydrocarbyl group of the sulfonate is a saturated aliphatic group having in the range of about 10 to about 18 carbon atoms and is terminally substituted by the foregoing functionality.

Herbicidal and plant growth regulant compositions and their use

Glyphosate formulations which are effective even when employed at dosages below the dosage currently recommended for post-emergent herbicidal or plant growth regulant use are described. They are formulated as water solutions or powders or granules of (a) one or more agriculturally acceptable amine, alkali metal, alkylsulfonium, alkylphosphonium, sulfonylamine, and/or aminoguanidine salts of glyphosate; and (b) one or more water-soluble long chain monoalkyl sulfate or agriculturally acceptable salt or short chain ester thereof in which the long chain group is an alkyl group having in the range of about 10 to about 18 carbon atoms and is terminally substituted by such functionality.

A dihydroaromatic compound is aromatized by intimately contacting it with a base selected from alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, and tetraalkylammonium hydroxides, alkoxides, carbonates, and bicarbonates in the presence of a hydrogen acceptor. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the dihydroaromatic compound is a dihydronaphthalene bearing an electron-withdrawing substituent, e.g., a cyanodihydronaphthalene.

Aromatization process

An alpha-arylacrylonitrile is prepared by reacting an aryl ketone having a removable hydrogen alpha to the carbonyl group with a cyanide ion source which is free of radicals that would stabilize a cyanohydrin corresponding to the aryl ketone and with a Lewis acid, preferably in the presence of a solvent. In a preferred embodiment, the aryl ketone is a tetralone, the cyanide ion source is hydrogen cyanide, the Lewis acid is aluminum chloride, and the product is a 1-cyano-3,4-dihydronaphthalene.

Process for preparing alpha arylacrylonitriles

6-Alkoxy-5-trifluoromethyl-1-naphthoic acids are prepared by (1) cyanating a 6-alkoxytetralone so as to form a 6-alkoxy-1-cyano-3,4-dihydronaphthalene, (2) converting the 6-alkoxy-1-cyano-3,4-dihydronaphthalene to a naphthoic acid precursor selected from a 6-alkoxy-1-cyanonaphthalene and a hydrocarbyl 6-alkoxy-1-naphthoate, (3) halogenating the naphthoic acid precursor to the corresponding 5-halo derivative, (4) trifluoromethylating the 5-halo derivative to replace the 5-halo substituent with a 5-trifluoromethyl group, and (5) hydrolyzing the resultant product to a 6-alkoxy-5-trifluoromethyl-1-naphthoic acid. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the process is conducted so as to prepare 6-methoxy-5-trifluoromethyl-1-naphthoic acid, which, like the other products, is known to be useful as a pharmaceutical intermediate.

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Baton Rouge, LA, United States of America

John R Maloney