ABSTRACT
Double-Metal Cyanide (DMC) compounds are known catalysts for epoxide polymerization. These catalysts are highly active and are especially useful in the production of polyether polyols having low unsaturation. Conventional DMC catalysts are prepared by reacting an aqueous solution of a metal salt and a cyanometallate to form a precipitate of the DMC compound Activity requires use of organic complexing agents in the synthesis, such as glyme or t-butanol. This paper discusses a new family of DMC catalysts based on bifunctional complexing agents. These catalysts achieve significant activity from a variety of new compositions and crystal structures. These new DMC catalysts are compared with previous DMC catalysts, including details of synthetic preparation, elemental analysis, x-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and catalytic activity.
