Catalyst recovery

A process for the recovery and regeneration of cobalt catalyst and manganese catalyst from a mother liquor containing acetic acid, cobalt compounds, manganese compounds, and corrosion metal compounds of iron and nickel, said mother liquor having been produced by the use of cobalt catalysts and manganese catalyst in the oxidation of an alkyl aromatic compound to form an alkyl aromatic acid in an acetic acid containing solvent, which comprises:

• (a) precipitating cobalt and manganese from the mother liquor by the addition of ( 1) oxalic acid and alkali metal hydroxide, the amount of alkali metal hydroxide being about equal on a molar basis to the amount of oxalic acid, or (2) monoalkali metal oxalate, (b) isolating the precipitate, (c) dispersing the precipitate in a solution containing aqueous acetic acid (d) and forming cobalt acetate and manganese acetate by oxidizing the oxalic acid moiety to carbon oxides.