Alkoxylation using calcium catalysts and products therefrom

A method for preparing a nonionic surfactant comprising alkoxylated derivatives of an alcohol, comprising:

• (a) solubilizing, at least partially, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, or mixtures thereof, by mixing any of them with an activator having the formula:
• ##STR7## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are the same or different and are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and lower alkyl groups of one to four carbon atoms;
• n is an integer from 2 to 4;
• X and Y are the same or different electronegative, hetero-atoms selected from the group consisting of oxygen and nitrogen;
• a and b are the same or different integers satisfying the valency requirements of X and Y;
• Z and Z' are the same or different and are either hydrogen or an organic radical which does not prevent said solubilizing, thereby forming a calcium-containing composition which has titratable alkalinity;
• (b) removing water which is formed or present during the method;
• (c) stripping off activator which is not bound to calcium;
• (d) reacting the calcium-containing composition with a monohydric, aliphatic alcohol having about 8 to 20 carbons under conditions at which an alcohol exchange reaction occurs with the calcium-containing composition, thereby producing the corresponding alcohol derivative of the calcium-containing composition;
• (e) adding a sufficient amount of sulfuric acid to neutralize about 25% to about 75% of the titratable alkalinity;
• (f) introducing an alkylene oxide under conditions at which an alkoxylation reaction will occur, thereby producing alkoxylated derivatives of the alcohol;
• and
• (g) recovering said derivatives;
• wherein steps (c), (d) and (e) are interchangeable in any combination in said method.