Process for making alkylene glycol ether compositions useful for metal recovery

摘要

A process for making an alkylene glycol ether composition is disclosed. In one aspect, the process comprises reacting propylene glycol methyl ether (PM) with from 1.5 to 3 equivalents of propylene oxide (PO). The resulting alkoxylation mixture is distilled to provide a composition comprising at least 30 wt. % of TPM and less than 20 wt. % of DPM. In another process of the invention, DPM reacts with from 0.5 to 1.5 equivalents of PO in similar fashion to make an analogous product. Also disclosed are alkylene glycol ether compositions made by the process of the invention and use of the compositions in a method for recovering metals from metallic ores by froth flotation.