manufacture of ethylene glycols of a clean way

摘要

A method is disclosed for obtaining high-purity ethylene glycols in which the improvement consists in reducing the oxygen-containing organic impurities by treating their aqueous solutions as obtained during the processing of ethylene oxide with a solution of an alkali metal borohydride, sodium borohydride being preferred. A definitely alkaline environment is preferred. Ethylene glycols can thus be obtained which are particularly suitable for use in the fibre-manufacturing industry. Such glycols have extremely low UV-absorbance values.