A method for the alkoxylation of alkanols

Claim 1

A method for the alkoxylation of alkanols containing from about 2 to about 36 carbon atoms, comprising carrying out said alkoxylation in the presence of basic barium catalysts, strontium catalysts, and mixtures of these, said catalyst combined with an effective amount of a catalyst promoter or mixture of catalyst promoters prior - to said reaction, said combining carried out at a temperature of up to about 175°C, and wherein the catalyst promoter is selected from the group consisting of a) polyols containing a total of from 2 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point above 100°C; b) aldehydes and ketones containing a total of from 2 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point above 100°C; c) amides containing a total of from 1 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point above 100°C; d) amines containing a total of from 1 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point above 100°C; e) organic acids containing a total of from 1 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point of 100°C; f) phenols containing a total of from 6 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point above 100°C;

Claim 2

A method for the alkoxylation of alkanols containing from about 2 to about 36 carbon atoms, comprising carrying out said alkoxylation in the presence of basic barium catalysts, strontium catalysts, and mixtures of these, said catalyst combined with an effective amount of a catalyst promoter or mixture of catalyst promoters prior - to said reaction, said combining carried out at a temperature of up to about 175°C, and wherein the catalyst promoter is selected from the group consisting of a) polyols containing a total of from 2 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point above 100°C; b) aldehydes and ketones containing a total of from 2 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point above 100°C; c) amides containing a total of from 1 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point above 100°C; d) amines containing a total of from 1 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point above 100°C; e) organic acids containing a total of from 1 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point of 100°C; f) phenols containing a total of from 6 to 30 carbon atoms and having a boiling point above 100°C;

Claim 14

A method of preparing an'alkoxylation catalyst for the alkoxylation of alkanols containing from 2 to 36 carbon atoms with an alkoxylating agent selected from the group consisting of ethylene oxide, propylene oxide and butylene oxide, said catalyst comprising a metal compound selected from the group consisting of strontium metal, strontium hydride, strontium oxide, strontium hydroxide, hydrated strontium hydroxide, barium metal, barium hydride; barium oxide, barium hydroxide and hydrated barium hydroxide preformed with a promoter selected from the group consisting of a) the polyol promoters contain 2 or more adjacent or non-adjacent hydroxyl containing groups of the general formula wherein R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 are, independently, linear or branched acyclic groups, alicyclic groups, cyclic groups, aryl groups or hydrogen and wherein the R-designated groups in addition can contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of ether, amine, carboxyl, halogen, nitro, carbonyl, and amide; b) the aldehyde and ketone promoters contain one or more adjacent or non-adjacent carbonyl containing groups of the general formula wherein R i . and R 2 are, independently, linear or branched acyclic groups, alicyclic groups, cyclic groups, aryl groups or hydrogen, and wherein the R-designated groups in addition can contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl, ether, carboxyl, carbonyl, amine, nitro or halogen; c) the primary, secondary or tertiary amide promoters contain one or more amide containing groups of the general formula wherein R 1 , R 21 and R 3 are, independently, hydrogen, linear or branched acyclic groups, alicyclic groups, cyclic groups or aryl groups and wherein the R - designated groups can in addition contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl, ether, carboxyl, carbonyl, amine, nitro or halogen; d) the primary, secondary or tertiary amine promoters contain one or more amine containing groups of the general formula wherein R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 are, independently, hydrogen, linear or branched acyclic groups, alicyclic groups, cyclic groups, or aryl groups, and wherein the R-designated groups can in addition contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl, ether, carbonyl, halogen, carboxyl, nitro, or amide; e) the organic acid promoters contain one or more adjacent or non-adjacent carboxylic acid containing group of the general formula wherein R 1 is a hydrogen, linear or branched acyclic group, alicylic group, cyclic group, or aryl group and wherein R can in addition, contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of carbonyl, hydroxyl, halogen, ether, nitro, amine, or amide; f) the phenol promoters have one or more functional groups of the general formula wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , and R e are, independently, hydrogen, halogen, hydroxyl, nitro, ether, or carbonyl, linear or branched acyclic groups, alicyclic groups, cyclic groups, aryl groups or substituted aryl groups wherein in addition the R-designated groups can contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of halogen, ether, nitro, carboxyl, carbonyl, amine, amide, or hydroxyl, the method comprising heating a metal component with one or more promoters at a temperature of up to 175°C for a period of time of up to two hours and recovering the preformed catalyst.

Claim 15

A method of preparing an'alkoxylation catalyst for the alkoxylation of alkanols containing from 2 to 36 carbon atoms with an alkoxylating agent selected from the group consisting of ethylene oxide, propylene oxide and butylene oxide, said catalyst comprising a metal compound selected from the group consisting of strontium metal, strontium hydride, strontium oxide, strontium hydroxide, hydrated strontium hydroxide, barium metal, barium hydride; barium oxide, barium hydroxide and hydrated barium hydroxide preformed with a promoter selected from the group consisting of a) the polyol promoters contain 2 or more adjacent or non-adjacent hydroxyl containing groups of the general formula wherein R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 are, independently, linear or branched acyclic groups, alicyclic groups, cyclic groups, aryl groups or hydrogen and wherein the R-designated groups in addition can contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of ether, amine, carboxyl, halogen, nitro, carbonyl, and amide; b) the aldehyde and ketone promoters contain one or more adjacent or non-adjacent carbonyl containing groups of the general formula wherein R i . and R 2 are, independently, linear or branched acyclic groups, alicyclic groups, cyclic groups, aryl groups or hydrogen, and wherein the R-designated groups in addition can contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl, ether, carboxyl, carbonyl, amine, nitro or halogen; c) the primary, secondary or tertiary amide promoters contain one or more amide containing groups of the general formula wherein R 1 , R 21 and R 3 are, independently, hydrogen, linear or branched acyclic groups, alicyclic groups, cyclic groups or aryl groups and wherein the R - designated groups can in addition contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl, ether, carboxyl, carbonyl, amine, nitro or halogen; d) the primary, secondary or tertiary amine promoters contain one or more amine containing groups of the general formula wherein R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 are, independently, hydrogen, linear or branched acyclic groups, alicyclic groups, cyclic groups, or aryl groups, and wherein the R-designated groups can in addition contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl, ether, carbonyl, halogen, carboxyl, nitro, or amide; e) the organic acid promoters contain one or more adjacent or non-adjacent carboxylic acid containing group of the general formula wherein R 1 is a hydrogen, linear or branched acyclic group, alicylic group, cyclic group, or aryl group and wherein R can in addition, contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of carbonyl, hydroxyl, halogen, ether, nitro, amine, or amide; f) the phenol promoters have one or more functional groups of the general formula wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , and R e are, independently, hydrogen, halogen, hydroxyl, nitro, ether, or carbonyl, linear or branched acyclic groups, alicyclic groups, cyclic groups, aryl groups or substituted aryl groups wherein in addition the R-designated groups can contain one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of halogen, ether, nitro, carboxyl, carbonyl, amine, amide, or hydroxyl, the method comprising heating a metal component with one or more promoters at a temperature of up to 175°C for a period of time of up to two hours and recovering the preformed catalyst.