Patent ID: 8912365

Claim:
A process for preparing a polyol ether of formula (I), comprising a step of performing reductive alkylation by contacting a compound of formula (II) with a compound of formula (III): in which: R 1 and R 2 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, —OH, —(OCH 2 —CH(OH)—CH 2 ) p —OH having p in a range: 1≦p≦10, C 1 -C 50 alkyl, C 2 -C 50 alkenyl, C 1 -C 50 alkyl interrupted by one or more oxygen atom(s), C 2 -C 50 alkenyl interrupted by one or more oxygen atom(s), aryl, aryloxy, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, and C 3 -C 18 cycloalkoxy group, wherein the alkyl, the alkenyl, the aryl, the aryloxy, the C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, the C 3 -C 18 cycloalkoxy may be unsubstituted or substituted; R 4 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C 1 -C 50 alkyl, C 2 -C 50 alkenyl, aryl, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, and —CH 2 —CH[O—[C(═O)] n —R 5 ]—CH 2 —O—[C(═O)] m —R 6 , wherein the C 1 -C 50 alkyl, the C 2 -C 50 the alkenyl, the aryl, the C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, and the —CH 2 —CH[O—[C(═O)] n —R 5 ]—CH 2 —O—[C(═O)] m —R 6 may be unsubstituted or substituted; R 3 , R 5 and R 6 are independently selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 50 alkyl, C 2 -C 50 alkenyl, aryl, and C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, wherein the C 1 -C 50 alkyl, the C 2 -C 50 alkenyl, the aryl, and the C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl may be unsubstituted or substituted; n and m are independently equal to 0 or 1; R 5 is hydrogen when n=0; and R 6 is hydrogen when m=0, wherein at least one of R 1 and R 2 is a hydroxyl group —OH.