Patent attributes
The invention provides a process for the preparation of glycols from a saccharide-containing feedstock in a reactor system, said process comprising: i) providing a first feed stream comprising said saccharide-containing feedstock in a first solvent at a N temperature of no more than 160° C.; ii) providing a second feed stream comprising a tungsten-based retro-aldol catalytic species and an alkali metal containing species in a second solvent at a temperature in the range of from 150 to 250° C.; iii) combining the first feed stream and the second feed stream, before they are provided to the reactor system, to form a combined feed stream; iv) providing the combined feed stream to the reactor system and operating the reactor at a temperature in the range of from 150° C. to 250° C.; and v) also contacting the combined feed stream with a hydrogenation catalytic species in the presence of hydrogen, wherein the molar ratio of alkali metal:tungsten in the combined feed stream is in the range of from 0.55 to 6.
