To evaluate the effect of two liquid phase on the separation of musks mixture

the phase equilibria of musk ketone + musk xylene + dimethyl sulfoxide + heptane system were studied for the first time. The whole and every part of the phase equilibrium for the quaternary system were shown by three-dimensional phase diagrams

the liquid-liquid equilibria

solid-liquid equilibria and solid-liquid-liquid equilibria of the quaternary system were also shown. As a result

the compositions of musks in the equilibrium liquid phases were different from those in the feed

that is

musk ketone was enriched in dimethyl sulfoxide phase while musk xylene was enriched in heptane phase. So these equilibrium liquid phases were useful in separating musk ketone and musk xylene. On the basis of these results

a new process“two liquid phase extractive crystallization”was proposed to separate the eutectics of musk ketone and musk xylene.