Process for preparing purified aromatic polycarboxylic acids

Economical processes are disclosed for preparing relatively pure polycarboxylic acid from typical crude products of liquid phase oxidation, which do not involve intermediate steps of ester formation or require any alkanol containing solvent, for purification of "crude" polycarboxylic acid containing impurities which include one or more monofunctional aromatic compounds, trifunctional aromatic compounds, and/or color causing organic compounds formed by oxidation of a corresponding substituted aromatic compound in a liquid phase, e.g. 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid by liquid phase oxidation of 2,6-dimethyl naphthalene. The invention provides integrate processes which comprise reacting crude oxidation product with a polyalkyl amine amine, e.g. trialkylamine, forming an aqueous solution of the salts thus obtained, separating deleterious compounds from the solution, and recovering the polyalkyl amine and a relatively pure polycarboxylic acid product.