Method for capturing and recycling iron catalyst used in the production of haloalkane compounds

In a process for the manufacture of the compound 1,1,1,3,3-pentachloropropane (HCC-240fa) comprising reacting carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and vinyl chloride (VCM) in the presence of a catalyst mixture comprising tributyl phosphate (TBP), metallic iron powder to produce a reaction product mixture containing HCC-240fa;

• and wherein the HCC-240fa product is recovered by separating it from the other reactants;
• the improvement comprising:
• (a) continuously feeding CCl4 and VCM into the reactor and adding iron powder and the co-catalyst TBP into reactor either periodically or continuously;
• (b) conducting the reaction of the CCl4 and VCM at a residence time of from about 1 hour to about 12 hours, thereby forming a reaction slurry of HCC-240fa and other reaction components;
• (c) continuously withdrawing slurry from the reactor and passing the slurry through one or more electromagnetic separation units (EMSU) to remove the iron powder from the slurry, thereby producing an iron-free reactor effluent, and returning the iron powder to the reactor at step (a);
• and
• (d) separating the HCC-240fa from the slurry and returning the remaining contents of the slurry to the reactor at step (a).