Alkoxylated formose polyols and their use in polyurethane plastics

Claim 2

A process for the production of polyether polyols having an average molecular weight of from 200 to 10,000 and an average hydroxyl functionality of from 2.0 to 7.0, comprising reacting one or more alkylene oxides, optionally successively, with a mixture of polyhydric alcohols which mixture has been produced by reduction of the condensation products obtained from the condensation of formaldehyde hydrate.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1, wherein the mixture of polyhydric alcohols is characterized by the following molar ratios: trihydric alcohols:tetrahydric alcohols=from 0.5:1 to 2.0:1 tetrahydric alcohols:pentahydric alcohols=from 0.2:1 to 2.0:1 pentahydric alcohols:hexahydric alcohols=from 0.5:1 to 5.0:1.

Claim 4

The process of claim 1, wherein propylene oxide, ethylene oxide or a mixture of propylene oxide and ethylene oxide is used as the alkylene oxide.

Claim 5

The process of claim 1, wherein the mixture of polyhydric alcohols used is a mixture of polyhydric alcohols which has been produced by a process which comprises reacting at from 70° to 110° C., aqueous formalin solutions and/or paraformaldehyde dispersions containing from 20 to 65%, by weight, of formaldehyde in the presence of: (I) soluble or insoluble lead (II) salts or divalent lead bound to a high molecular weight support, and (II) a co-catalyst comprising a mixture of hydroxyaldehyde and hydroxyketones obtainable by the condensation of formaldehyde and which contains at least 75%, by weight, of C 3 -C 6 compounds and is characterized by the following molar ratios: C.sub.3 -compound:C.sub.4 -compounds=from 0.5:1 to 2.0:1 C.sub.4 -compounds:C.sub.5 -compounds=from 0.2:1 to 2.0:1 C.sub.5 -compounds:C.sub.6 -compounds=from 0.5:1 to 5.0:1 and the pH-value of the reaction solution being adjusted to from 6.0 to 8.0 by the controlled addition of an inorganic or organic base up to a conversion of from 10 to 60% and subsequently continuing the reaction at a pH value of from 4.0 to 6.0, the condensation of the formaldehyde hydrate being interrupted at a residual formaldehyde content of from 0 to 10%, by weight, of formaldehyde by cooling and/or deactivating the lead-containing catalyst with acids, the catalyst being subsequently removed in known manner and the aldehyde and keto groups present in the reaction product being reduced to hydroxyl groups.

Claim 6

The process of claim 1, wherein the mixture of polyhydric alcohols used is a mixture of polyhydric alcohols which has been produced by a process which comprises reacting at from 70° to 110° C., aqueous formalin solutions and/or paraformaldehyde dispersions containing from 20 to 65%, by weight, of formaldehye in the presence of: (I) a soluble or insoluble compound of a metal of the 2nd-4th main or the 1st-8th sub-group of the Periodic System of Elements, optionally bound to a high molecular weight carrier, and (II) a co-catalyst prepared by partial oxidation of a divalent or higher valent alcohol containing at least 2 adjacent hydroxyl groups and having a molecular weight of between 62 and 242 or of a mixture of such alcohols, the pH of the reaction solution being maintained at between 6.0 and 9.0 by controlled addition of an inorganic and/or organic base up to a conversion rate of from 5-40% and thereafter at between 4.5 and 8.0 until termination of the condensation reaction and then stopping the reaction by inactivation of the catalyst in known manner when the residual formaldehyde content is 0-10% by weight; removing catalyst; and reducing the aldehyde and keto groups present in the reaction product to hydroxyl groups.

Claim 7

The process of claim 1, wherein the mixture of polyhydric alcohols used is a mixture of polyhydric alcohols which has been produced by a process which comprises reacting at from 70° to 110° C., aqueous formalin solutions and/or paraformaldehyde dispersions containing from 20 to 65%, by weight, of formaldehyde in the presence of: (I) a soluble or insoluble compound of a metal of the first to eighth sub-group or second to fourth main group of the Periodic System of Elements, optionally bound to a high molecular weight carrier, and (II) more than 10% by weight, based on formaldehyde, of one or more dihydric or higher hydric low molecular weight alcohols and/or higher molecular weight polyhydroxyl compounds, the pH of the reaction solution being maintained between 5.5 and 9.0 by controlled addition of one or more inorganic and/or organic bases up to a conversion rate of 5-40% by weight and being thereafter adjusted to 4.0-8.5 until the termination of the condensation reaction: then stopping the reaction in known manner by inactivation of the catalyst when the residual formaldehyde content is from 0-10% by weight; removing the catalyst and reducing the aldehyde and keto groups present in the reaction product to hydroxyl groups.

Claim 8

The process of claim 1, wherein the mixture of polyhydric alcohols used is a mixture of polyhydric alcohols which has been produced by a process which comprises introducing synthesis gases containing formaldehyde continuously or discontinuously at temperatures of between 10° and 150° C. into an absorption liquid comprising (a) 5 to 99% by weight of water, (b) 0.1 to 90% by weight of compounds capable of enediol formation as cocatalysts, (c) 0 to 20% by weight of soluble or insoluble metal compounds as catalysts optionally bound to high molecular weight carriers, and (d) 0 to 60% by weight of one or more monohydric or higher hydric low molecular weight alcohols and/or higher molecular weight polyhydroxyl compounds and having a pH of 3 to 10, and the formaldehyde being condensed at the same time or, if the absorption solution contains no catalyst, the formaldehyde being condensed subsequently by the addition of catalyst, stopping the condensation of formaldehyde with itself by cooling and/or by inactivation of the catalyst with acids in known manner when the reaction mixture has a residual formaldehyde content of from 0 to 10% by weight; removing the catalyst in known manner; and reducing the aldehyde and keto groups present in the reaction product to hydroxyl groups.

Claim 9

A process for the production of optionally cellular polyurethane plastics comprising reacting: (a) polyisocyanates; with (b) relatively high molecular weight compounds containing isocyanate-reactive hydrogen atoms; and, optionally, (c) chain-extenders; optionally in the presence of (d) blowing agents, catalysts and other known additives; wherein polyether polyols produced in accordance with claim 1 are used, optionally in part, as component (b).

Claim 10

The process of claim 1 wherein said mixture of polyhydric alcohols is mixed with dihydric and/or trihydric alcohols and/or monoamines or polyamines prior to alkoxylation.

Claim 11

The process of claim 9, wherein ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol or 1,3-propylene glycol is used as the additional dihydric alcohol.