POLYGLYCOL FINISHING PROCESS

摘要

Polyglycols having an OH equivalent weight of at least 700 can be finished with hypophosphorous acid to remove residual basic catalyst. Hypophosphorous acid forms salts with alkali metals such as potassium, to produce salts which have very low solubility in such polyglycols. These salts also form large, needle like crystals which are easily filterable. Polyglycol finishing processes utilizing hypophosphorous acid can be used to prepare polyols with low alkali metal concentrations while producing substantially less solid and liquid waste than conventional finishing processes.