Polyethers are prepared by polymerizing an alkylene oxide in the presence of a starter, an aluminum compound that has at least one hydrocarbyl substituent, and a cyclic amidine. The phosphorus-nitrogen base is present in only a small molar ratio relative to the amount of starter. The presence of such small amounts of cyclic amidine greatly increases the catalytic activity of the system, compared to the case in which the aluminum compound is used by itself. The product polyethers have low amounts of unsaturated polyether impurities and little or no unwanted high molecular weight fraction. Polymers of propylene oxide have very low proportions of primary hydroxyl groups.

Polyethers are prepared by polymerizing an alkylene oxide in the presence of a starter, an aluminum compound that has at least one hydrocarbyl substituent, and a phosphorus-nitrogen base. The phosphorus-nitrogen base is present in only a small molar ratio relative to the amount of starter. The presence of such small amounts of phosphorus-nitrogen base greatly increases the catalytic activity of the system, compared to the case in which the aluminum compound is used by itself. The product polyethers have low amounts of unsaturated polyether impurities and little or no unwanted high molecular weight fraction. Polymers of propylene oxide have very low proportions of primary hydroxyl groups.

The present disclosure relates to block copolymers comprising, and methods of making thereof, a polycarbonate chain linked to a hydrophilic polymer. Such block copolymers may have the formula B-A-B, where A is a polycarbonate or polyethercarbonate chain and B is a polyether. Provided methods are useful in reducing the amount of waste generated from the synthesis of polycarbonates and provide improved thermal stability and high primary hydroxyl content. Provided block copolymers also have utility as additives in enhanced oil recovery methods, and foam polymer applications.

A method for the synthesis of a substituted poly(alkylene oxide) comprises reacting a substituted alcohol of formula (1) with an alkylene oxide of formula (2) in the presence of a catalyst and under conditions effective to provide the substituted poly(alkylene oxide) of formula (3) wherein in the foregoing formulas, each R is independently hydrogen, C.sub.1-60 alkyl, or C.sub.3-12 cycloalkyl, ring A is cyclohexane or phenyl, each R.sup.1 is independently hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, hexyl, decyl, dodecyl, tetradecyl, or hexadecyl, preferably hydrogen or methyl, and n is 2 to 60.

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The invention relates to polyethers, polyamines, and polythioethers, as well as to processes for synthesizing them, e.g., using olefins as starting material.

A formulation contains a curable composition having component A, component B, component C, and component D. Component A may have at least one polysiloxane. Component B may have at least one polyether bearing silyl groups and/or reaction products of a polyether bearing silyl groups with one or more isocyanate-containing compounds. Component C may have at least one catalyst. Component D may have at least one epoxy-functional compound and/or one amino-functional compound. The formulation can be used in a method for coating components that contact process water in an evaporative cooling system, a cooling tower, and/or a wet separator.

The present invention refers to polyetherpolyols which are characterized by a low content of cyclic by-products as well as to a method for producing the polyetherpolyol and an adhesive composition comprising the same.

The present invention relates to a kind of organic metal-free catalysts containing both electrophilic and nucleophilic dual-functions, preparation methods of making the same, and uses thereof. The organic metal-free catalysts in the present invention have the chemical structure shown in formula (I):

##STR00001##

Compared with the metal-free organic polymerization catalytic systems that have been reported before, the organic metal-free catalysts in this invention have the combined advantages of simple preparation, high reactivity, easy operation, low cost, wide applicability, easy for industrial production.

The present invention relates to a kind of organic metal-free catalysts containing both electrophilic and nucleophilic dual-functions, preparation methods of making the same, and uses thereof. The organic metal-free catalysts in the present invention have the chemical structure shown in formula (I): ##STR00001##
Compared with the metal-free organic polymerization catalytic systems that have been reported before, the organic metal-free catalysts in this invention have the combined advantages of simple preparation, high reactivity, easy operation, low cost, wide applicability, easy for industrial production.

A method of continuously producing a polyol includes: (i) feeding a solid catalyst into a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR); (ii) contacting a reaction mixture comprising one or more epoxides and carbon dioxide with the solid catalyst and a chain transfer agent comprising a plurality of sites capable of initiating copolymerization of epoxides and carbon dioxide in the CSTR; (iii) allowing polymerization reaction to proceed until a desired molecular weight polyol has formed; and (iv) terminating the polymerization reaction.