The present invention concerns a catalyst formulation comprising: (a) a Zn catalyst comprising a Zn compound having alcoholate ligand(s) derived from one or more polyols, and (b) a catalyst additive comprising a metal compound (i) having alcoholate ligand(s) derived from one or monohydric alcohol wherein the metal is selected from: (I) group 2 metals, preferably Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba, more preferably Mg, (II) Li, and (III) combinations of at least two metals selected from (I) and (II). The present invention also relates to a process for polymerizing an epoxide monomer, preferably ethylene oxide, comprising carrying out the process in the presence of the catalyst formulation.

A process for polymerizing an epoxide monomer, preferably ethylene oxide, comprising carrying out the process in the presence of a catalytically active amount of a catalyst obtainable by a preparation process comprising admixing at least one alkaline earth metal, liquid ammonia, an alkylene oxide, which is optionally substituted by aromatic radicals, and an organic nitrile having at least one acidic hydrogen atom to prepare a slurry of modified alkaline earth hexammine in liquid ammonia; continuously transferring the slurry of modified alkaline earth hexammine in liquid ammonia into a stripper vessel and continuously evaporating ammonia, thereby accumulating the modified catalyst in the stripper vessel; and upon complete transfer of the slurry of modified alkaline earth hexammine into the stripper vessel, aging the modified catalyst to obtain the final polymerization catalyst; and a polymer obtainable by this process.

The present invention relates to a method of dewatering an aqueous mineral suspension comprising introducing into the suspension a flocculating system comprising a poly(ethylene oxide) copolymer, in particular a copolymer of ethylene oxide and one or more epoxy or glycidyl ether functionalized hydrophobic monomer. Said poly(ethylene oxide) copolymers are useful for the treatment of suspensions of particulate material, especially waste mineral slurries. The invention is particularly suitable for the treatment of tailings and other waste material resulting from mineral processing, in particular, the processing of oil sands tailings.

Disclosed herein is a method for preparing ethoxylated glycerol esters (formula (I)) by reacting ethylene oxide with triglycerides (formula (II)) using a calcium catalyst. The catalyst is formed from calcium hydroxide (A), a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 carboxylic acid (B) (formula (III)), and a strong acid (AC) (pKa3) derived from sulfur or phosphorus oxides. In formulae (I) and (II), R.sub.1-R.sub.3 are C.sub.7-C.sub.24 alkyl chains, with ethoxylation units (m+n+o) averaging>5. In formula (III), R.sup.4 is selected from saturated or unsaturated, linear or branched C.sub.1-C.sub.30 alkyl chains, and R.sup.5, R.sup.6, R.sup.7, and R.sup.8 are hydrogen. The calcium hydroxide: carboxylic acid ratio (A):(B) is 1:1-1:5, while calcium hydroxide: strong acid ratio (A):(AC) is 5:1-1:1. ##STR00001##

A detergent composition for machine dishwashing comprising Z1) one or more ethoxylated glycerol esters of formula (I), ##STR00001##
prepared from ethylene oxide and one or more triglycerides of formula (II) in the presence of a calcium catalyst (C), characterized in that R1, R2 and R3 in formulae (I) and (II) are equal or different and are independently selected from saturated or unsaturated, linear or branched C7-C24 alkyl chains; m, n and o in formula (I) are equal or different and are each independently an integer number from 1 to 200 with the proviso that the number-average of the sum of m+n+o is greater than 5; and the calcium catalyst (C) is a catalyst obtainable by a reaction involving (A) calcium hydroxide and (B) a carboxylic acid comprising 3 to 40 carbon atoms, wherein the molar ratio of calcium hydroxide (A) to carboxylic acid (B) in the preparation of the catalyst (C) is from 1:1 to 1:5.