A process for producing a polyphenylene ether, which comprises: contacting, with an aqueous solution of a chelating agent, a polyphenylene ether solution obtained by polymerization in a non-water-soluble polymerization solvent for a polyphenylene ether in the presence of a catalyst, to terminate the polymerization and deactivating the catalyst; and adding a water-soluble poor solvent for the polyphenylene ether to precipitate the polyphenylene ether; and recovering the thus precipitated polyphenylene ether, wherein (a) the contact with the chelating agent aqueous solution is carried out by holding the polyphenylene ether solution and the chelating agent aqueous solution at a temperature of from 50 to 120°C for 10 to 180 minutes, wherein (b) a mixture remaining after the recovery of the polyphenylene ether, which contains the non-water-soluble polymerization solvent and water-soluble poor solvent, is brought into contact with water to extract the water-soluble poor solvent, and a water phase containing the thus extracted water-soluble poor solvent is recovered by separation, and wherein (c) the water-soluble poor solvent is separated and removed from the water phase by distillation, and the whole or a part of the remaining water phase is recycled as water to be brought into contact with the mixture, the remaining water phase having a content of a high-boiling-point organic substance of 1 wt.% or less.
一种生产聚苯醚的工艺,包括在催化剂存在下,将在聚苯醚的非
水溶性聚合溶剂中聚合得到的聚苯醚溶液与
螯合剂水溶液接触,以终止聚合并使催化剂失活;加入聚苯醚的
水溶性贫溶剂,使聚苯醚沉淀;回收由此沉淀的聚苯醚,其中 (a) 与
螯合剂水溶液的接触是通过将聚苯醚溶液和
螯合剂水溶液在 50 至 120°C 的温度下保持 10 至 180 分钟来进行的,其中 (b) 回收聚苯醚后剩余的混合物,其中包含非
水溶性聚合溶剂和
水溶性贫溶剂、(c) 通过蒸馏从
水相中分离并除去
水溶性贫溶剂,剩余
水相的全部或部分作为与混合物接触的
水回收,剩余
水相的高沸点有机物含量为 1 wt.%或更低。