Disclosed are methods for purifying polyols containing oxyalkylene units that is an alkali metal catalyzed alkoxylation reaction product of an alkylene oxide and an H-functional starter. The methods include neutralizing the alkali metal ions with an aqueous solution comprising water and sulfuric acid, in which: (i) the sulfuric acid is present in an amount of no more than 5% by weight, based on the total weight of the aqueous solution, and (ii) the sulfuric acid is used in an amount of 2% to 10% more than the theoretical amount necessary to neutralize all of the alkali metal ions present. The methods can produce polyols having a low content of 2-methyl-2-pentenal.

Polyether polyols are prepared by polymerizing unsaturated monomers in a continuous phase of a base polyol. A macromer or polymerization produce of such a macromer is present during the polymerization to stabilize the polymer particles as they form. The macromer is a polyether capped with certain unsaturated epoxide compounds.

Provided is a catalyst for synthesizing a polyethylene oxide polymer, comprising a crown ether as a first component, a quaternary phosphonium salt as a second component, and an alkali metal and/or an alkali metal compound as a third component. The catalyst can reduce the concentration of alkali metal ions in the product and is suitable for high-standard industrial fields. Also provided is a method for synthesizing a polyethylene oxide polymer, comprising carrying out a reaction of a compound containing active hydrogen and ethylene oxide in the presence of the catalyst. The method is simple to operate and environmentally friendly, improves the quality of the synthesized product, and is suitable for high-standard industrial production.

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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Processes are described for producing an aromatic diamine-initiated polyether polyol having a measured OH number of 300 to 500 mg KOH/g and a viscosity at 25° C. of 5000 to 50,000 mPas. The processes include a first alkoxylation step in which an alkylene oxide consisting essentially of propylene oxide is reacted with a starter consisting essentially of aromatic diamine at a molar ratio of propylene oxide to aromatic diamine of 1.4:1 to 2.0:1 to form an alkoxylated product; and a second alkoxylation step in which an alkylene oxide consisting essentially of propylene oxide is reacted with the alkoxylated product, in the presence of an added catalyst, until the ratio of moles of propylene oxide added in the process to the moles of aromatic diamine added in the process is 4:1 to 9:1.

A method for preparing polyether carbonate alcohols by attaching cyclic carbonate to an H-functional starter substance in the presence of a catalyst, characterized in that a tribasic alkali- or alkaline earth metal phosphate is used as the catalyst, the alkali metal being selected from potassium or cesium.

Processes and production plants for preparing a polyol. The process includes continuously producing an intermediate polyol in a first reactor, b) continuously discharging the intermediate polyol from the first reactor, continuously mixing the intermediate polyol with an aqueous solutions of alkali metal to provide a mixture comprising the intermediate polyol, alkali metal, and water, continuously dehydrating the mixture comprising intermediate polyol, alkali metal, and water, thereby continuously producing a dehydrated mixture comprising the intermediate polyol and the alkali metal, transferring the dehydrated mixture to a second reactor, and producing the polyether polyol in the second reactor by feeding an alkylene oxide to the second reactor to thereby react the intermediate polyol with the alkylene oxide in the presence of the alkali metal.

A process for producing a polyetheramine by reacting a polyether alcohol, previously synthesized in the presence of a basic potassium or sodium compound as catalyst, with ammonia in the presence of hydrogen and a catalyst in one reactor or a plurality of reactors, wherein the employed polyether alcohol when previously synthesized in the presence of a basic potassium compound as catalyst has a content of potassium ions of less than 50 wppm and when previously synthesized in the presence of a basic sodium compound as catalyst has a content of sodium ions of less than 50 wppm.

The invention discloses one method of producing polyether polymer dispersant and polyether polymer, wherein the dispersant is a copolymer macromolecule prepared by the propylene oxide or ethylene oxide with an average molecular weight of 6000 to 20000, with containing at least one benzene ring group and one polymerizable carbon-carbon double or triple bond polymer. The preparation method of the dispersant is: synthesizing a basic polyether polyol, adding a cyclic dicarboxylic anhydride into the polyether polyol, then the polyether polyol is reacted with an epoxy compound with the polymerizable double bond, and capping with an epoxy compound to obtain the dispersant; preparing the polymer polyol by the basic polyol, an unsaturated vinyl monomer styrene and acrylonitrile, a polymerization initiator, the dispersant and an optional chain transfer agent; the basic polyether is a polyether polyol with a functionality of 3 to 8.

Processes are described for producing an aromatic diamine-initiated polyether polyol having a measured OH number of 300 to 500 mg KOH/g and a viscosity at 25° C. of 5000 to 50,000 mPas. The processes include a first alkoxylation step in which an alkylene oxide consisting essentially of propylene oxide is reacted with a starter consisting essentially of aromatic diamine at a molar ratio of propylene oxide to aromatic diamine of 1.4:1 to 2.0:1 to form an alkoxylated product; and a second alkoxylation step in which an alkylene oxide consisting essentially of propylene oxide is reacted with the alkoxylated product, in the presence of an added catalyst, until the ratio of moles of propylene oxide added in the process to the moles of aromatic diamine added in the process is 4:1 to 9:1.