Disclosed is a method for preparing propylene glycol phenyl ether, comprising carrying out a polymerization reaction of phenol and a propylene oxide in the presence of a quaternary phosphonium salt compound as a catalyst. Preferably, the method comprises mixing phenol and a quaternary phosphonium salt compound, and then adding propylene oxide under oxygen-free conditions, wherein the phenol is polymerized with the propylene oxide to produce the propylene glycol phenyl ether. The propylene glycol phenyl ether thus prepared has few impurities and contains no metal ions, such as potassium and sodium, and does not require subsequent operations to remove metal ions and perform rectification separation, thereby reducing the costs and allowing same to be directly applied to high-standard industrial production.

The present invention provides a method for preparing 1,5-pentanediol via hydrogenolysis of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol. The catalyst used in the method is prepared by supporting a noble metal and a promoter on an organic polymer supporter or an inorganic hybrid material supporter, wherein the supporter is functionalized by a nitrogen-containing ligand. When the catalyst is used in the hydrogenolysis of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol to prepare 1,5-pentanediol, a good reaction activity and a high selectivity can be achieved. The promoter and the nitrogen-containing ligand in the supporter are bound to the catalyst through coordination, thereby the loss of the promoter is significantly decreased, and the catalyst has a particularly high stability. The lifetime investigation of the catalyst, which has been reused many times or used continuously for a long term, suggests that the catalyst has no obvious change in performance, thus reducing the overall process production cost.

Novel crystalline porous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and methods for their synthesis are provided herein. The MOFs include a M.sub.6(μ.sub.3-OH).sub.8(OH).sub.8(μ.sup.2,η.sup.2-(O.sub.2C).sub.2cyclam).sub.8 cluster, and a metal atom coordinated to the one or more cyclam of the cluster, wherein M is Zr or Hf, and the metal atom is any one of Cu, Ni, Cr, Ru, Co, and Gd. The MOFs can be used as an adsorbent, alone or in a medium with other components, of CO.sub.2. The MOFs can also be used as a catalyst for the transformation of CO.sub.2 and epoxides to cyclic carbonates. The MOFs can also be used in the electrochemical catalytic reduction of CO.sub.2. The MOFs can also be used for photocatalytic CO.sub.2 reduction for the production of carbon-based fossil fuels. The MOFs can also be used for light-induced nitric oxide (NO) release. The MOFs can also be used as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) agents.

Provided are a novel acyclic carbene ligand for ruthenium complex formation; a ruthenium complex catalyst using the ligand; a method of using the complex as a catalyst in an ethylene-metathesis ethenolysis reaction; a method of preparing the ruthenium complex catalyst; and a method of preparing a linear alpha-olefin, the method including the step of reacting a linear or cyclic alkene compound in the presence of the ruthenium complex catalyst.

The acyclic carbene ligand of the present invention and the ruthenium complex catalyst using the same have high selectivity and turnover number for terminal olefin formation in an ethylene-metathesis ethenolysis reaction, and thus linear -olefins may be prepared with a high yield.

The invention is directed to a process to continuously prepare a cyclic carbonate product by reacting an epoxide compound with carbon dioxide in the presence of a supported dimeric aluminium salen complex. The process is performed in a reactor comprising a slurry of the supported dimeric aluminium salen complex and liquid cyclic carbonate product. The produced cyclic carbonate is discharged from the reactor while the supported dimeric aluminium salen complex remains in the reactor. The liquid carbonate product is purified by means of distillation. Between the reactor and the distillation one or more buffer vessels are present having a volume of between 5 and 50 m.sup.3 per kmol of dimeric aluminium salen complex as present in the reactor.

Lewis acidic metal-organic framework (MOF) materials comprising triflate-coordinated metal nodes are described. The materials can be used as heterogenous catalysts in a wide range of organic group transformations, including Diels-Alder reactions, epoxide-ring opening reactions, Friedel-Crafts acylation reactions and alkene hydroalkoxylation reactions. The MOFs can also be prepared with metallated organic bridging ligands to provide heterogenous catalysts for tandem reactions and/or prepared as composites with support particles for use in columns of continuous flow reactor systems. Methods of preparing and using the MOF materials and their composites are also described.

A high-activity double-metal-cyanide catalyst, a method for fabricating the same, and applications of the same are disclosed. An organic complexing ligand, which is formed via mixing fatty alcohols and alicyclic carbonates, is used to generate a high-activity double-metal-cyanide catalyst. The high-activity double-metal-cyanide catalyst includes at least one double-metal-cyanide compound, at least one organic complexing ligand, and an optional functionalized compound. The double-metal-cyanide catalyst of the present invention has a higher activity than the conventional double-metal-cyanide catalysts. The polyols generated by the present invention has an insignificant amount of high-molecular-weight compounds.

The present invention discloses a method for preparing a phenylboronic acid neopentyl glycol ester. A mixed nickel(II) complex with a formula of Ni[P(OR.sup.1).sub.3][(R.sup.2NCH.sub.2CH.sub.2NR.sup.2)C]X.sub.2 is used as a catalyst. The method comprises: in the presence of potassium methoxide, efficiently catalyze a cross coupling reaction between a phenyl chloride and a bis(neopentyl glycolato)-diboron to prepare a phenylboronic acid neopentyl glycol ester. The invention provides the first embodiment of using a mixed nickel(II) complex with phosphonate ester and nitrogen heterocyclic carbene ancillary ligands to catalyze a cross coupling reaction.

The present invention discloses a method for preparing a phenylboronic acid neopentyl glycol ester. A mixed nickel(II) complex with a formula of Ni[P(OR.sup.1).sub.3][(R.sup.2NCH.sub.2CH.sub.2NR.sup.2)C]X.sub.2 is used as a catalyst. The method comprises: in the presence of potassium methoxide, efficiently catalyze a cross coupling reaction between a phenyl chloride and a bis(neopentyl glycolato)-diboron to prepare a phenylboronic acid neopentyl glycol ester. The invention provides the first embodiment of using a mixed nickel(II) complex with phosphonate ester and nitrogen heterocyclic carbene ancillary ligands to catalyze a cross coupling reaction.

Disclosed is a method for preparing propylene glycol phenyl ether, comprising carrying out a polymerization reaction of phenol and a propylene oxide in the presence of a quaternary phosphonium salt compound as a catalyst. Preferably, the method comprises mixing phenol and a quaternary phosphonium salt compound, and then adding propylene oxide under oxygen-free conditions, wherein the phenol is polymerized with the propylene oxide to produce the propylene glycol phenyl ether. The propylene glycol phenyl ether thus prepared has few impurities and contains no metal ions, such as potassium and sodium, and does not require subsequent operations to remove metal ions and perform rectification separation, thereby reducing the costs and allowing same to be directly applied to high-standard industrial production.