Catalyst for preparing propylene glycol phenyl ether and method for synthesizing propylene glycol phenyl ether

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for preparing propylene glycol phenyl ether, comprising carrying out a polymerization reaction of phenol and a propylene oxide in the presence of a quaternary phosphonium salt compound as a catalyst. Preferably, the method comprises mixing phenol and a quaternary phosphonium salt compound, and then adding propylene oxide under oxygen-free conditions, wherein the phenol is polymerized with the propylene oxide to produce the propylene glycol phenyl ether. The propylene glycol phenyl ether thus prepared has few impurities and contains no metal ions, such as potassium and sodium, and does not require subsequent operations to remove metal ions and perform rectification separation, thereby reducing the costs and allowing same to be directly applied to high-standard industrial production.