ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 2 -- United States Patent no. 12,486,209, issued on Dec. 2, was assigned to Evonik Operations GmbH (Essen, Germany).

"Method for the preparation of 1,2-propanediol" was invented by Holger Wiederhold (Darmstadt, Germany), David Bolz (Frankfurt, Germany) and Patrik Glatz (Freigericht, Germany).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "1,2-propanediol is prepared by a method involving reacting propene with hydrogen peroxide at 50 to 110deg C. in the presence of a catalyst mixture, containing a phase transfer catalyst and a polytungstophosphate, in a liquid reaction mixture containing an aqueous phase with a maximum apparent pH of 6 and an organic phase. The method then involves separat...