Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited

Shinjiro Ishihara

Shigeru Goto

Tetsuo Suzuki

Masayuki Yoshii

Koji Shinohara

Kenji Itoh

Shoko Ikeda

Makoto Murata

Yasuhiro Hashimoto

The objective of the present invention is to provide a method for the highly selective production of dipropylene glycol containing 1,1'-oxybis-2-propanol in a proportion of 0.10 to 0.70 and/or tripropylene glycol containing 1,1&#x2032;-[(1-methyl-1,2-ethanediyl)bis(oxy)]bis-2-propanol in a proportion of 0.10 to 0.70. The present invention is a method for producing dipropylene glycol containing 1,1&#x2032;-oxybis-2-propanol in a proportion of 0.10 to 0.70 and/or tripropylene glycol containing 1,1&#x2032;-[(1-methyl-1,2-ethanediyl)bis(oxy)]bis-2-propanol in a proportion of 0.10 to 0.70, the method comprising a reaction step of making a reactant comprising propylene oxide and water react in the presence of a catalyst, wherein the catalyst comprises at least one element selected from the group consisting of vanadium, niobium, and tantalum, and the Hammett acidity function (H) of the catalyst satisfies H&#x2266;9.3.

Method for producing glycols from oxirane compounds

There is provided a method for producing dipropylene glycol (DPG) and/or tripropylene glycol (TPG) including: (A) reacting a raw material liquid including propylene oxide and water to obtain a reaction liquid including unreacted water, propylene glycol (PG), DPG and/or TPG, and an alcohol compound excluding PG, DPG, and TPG; (B) separating, from the reaction liquid, a first liquid containing water and the alcohol compound and a second liquid containing the PG, DPG and/or TPG and optionally the alcohol compound; (C) removing a part of the alcohol compound from the first liquid to obtain a third liquid containing water and optionally a part of the alcohol compound; (D) separating, from the second liquid, a fourth liquid containing the PG and optionally the alcohol compound, and a fifth liquid containing the DPG and/or TPG and optionally the alcohol compound; and (E) recycling a part of the third liquid to step (A).

Method for producing glycols from oxirane compound

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Ehime, Japan

Shinjiro Ishihara