Ethylene glycol aluminum as a novel catalyst for the synthesis of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Ethylene glycol aluminum was prepared efficiently and characterized by FT-IR and NMR. It exhibited higher catalytic activity and had profitable effect than titanium glycolate and ethylene glycol antimony for the synthesis of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). It was only used as polycondensation catalyst because it was sensitive to water. For this catalyst, the degree of esterification of the theoretical amount of water was produced up to 95% at 260 °C, while the intrinsic viscosity and content of terminal carboxyl groups of the corresponding PET polyester, polymerized at 280 °C, 70 Pa for 39 min, was 0.87 dL/g and 23.0 μmol/g, respectively. Ethylene glycol aluminum was a promising catalyst for the synthesis of PET polyester.