Method of making and color stabilization of choline base

Claim 1

A process for producing a water-white colored aqueous solution of choline base that is resistant to discoloration in an electrolytic cell having an anode compartment containing an anode and a cathode compartment containing a cathode, said anode and cathode compartments being separated by a cationic membrane capable of rejecting passage of essentially all halide ions from said anode compartment to the cathode compartment and capable of permitting passage of hydrated choline ions from said anode compartment to said cathode compartment, comprising: feeding a solution of choline halide into said anode compartment; feeding dilute aqueous choline base into said cathode compartment; adding a sulfite to a chamber of said electrolytic cell in an amount sufficient to make the choline base produced by the process resistant to discoloration; establishing and maintaining a sufficient electrical potential between said anode and cathode to produce a flow of electrical current across said cell thereby causing halide ions to lose an electron at said anode, hyrated choline ions to migrate through said membrane from said anode compartment into said cathode compartment and to combine with hydroxide ions to form choline base that is essentially free of halide, and to dissociate water at the cathode to form hydrogen and hydroxide ions; and removing an aqueous solution of said choline base from said cathode compartment that contains impurities of ≦1000 ppm halides and carbonates and ≦15 ppm alkali metals.