Patent ID: 8367876

Claim:
A method for producing a polyether comprising a step of extracting and removing a water-soluble compound from a polyether containing the water-soluble compound (hereinafter referred to as “crude polyether”) with water, wherein the step includes at least an operation of separating a water phase from a polyether phase at a temperature of 50° C. or higher, wherein, in the step of extracting and removing a water-soluble compound from a crude polyether with water, 40 to 300 parts by weight of water is added relative to 100 parts by weight of the crude polyether, wherein the operation of separating the water phase from the polyether phase after extraction is performed without centrifugal separation by settling separation, wherein the crude polyether is either a hydroxyl-group-containing polyether prepared by allowing an alkylene oxide to react with an initiator in the presence of a metal containing catalyst, or a modified product of the hydroxyl-group-containing polyether, wherein the crude polyether is an unsaturated-group-containing polyether, and wherein the unsaturated-group-containing polyether is prepared by allowing an alkylene oxide to react with an initiator in the presence of a double metal cyanide complex catalyst to prepare a hydroxyl-group-containing polyether, converting the hydroxyl-group-containing polyether to an alkali metal alkoxide, and then allowing the product to react with an unsaturatedgroup-containing halogenated hydrocarbon.