may be selected from the group consisting of hydrogen aryl groups having from 6 to about 20 carbon atoms alkyl groups containing from 1 to about 20 carbon atoms cycloalkyl groups containing from 5 to about 20 carbon atoms and alkenyl groups containing from 2 to about 20 carbon atoms preferably r and r 1 are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen aryl groups having from 6 to about 12 carbon atoms alkyl groups containing from 1 to about 5 carbon atoms cycloalkyl groups containing from 5 to about 12 carbon atoms and alkenyl groups containing from 2 to about 5 carbon atoms more preferably r and r 1 are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen alkyl groups containing from 1 to about 5 carbon atoms and alkenyl groups containing from 2 to about 5 carbon atoms especially preferred are ethylene oxide and propylene oxide the oxirane compounds as shown by the formula above have the ring oxygen atom attached to two adjacent carbon atoms the reaction may be carried out at a temperature of from about 100 u00b0 to about 225 u00b0 c preferably from about 175 u00b0 to about 215 u00b0 c the reaction may be carried out at atmospheric pressure or preferably under a pressure of about 300 psig or greater more preferably the reaction is carried out under a pressure of about 1000 to about 2000 psig the reaction may be conducted either batch wise or continuously in a continuous reaction alkylene oxide and carbon dioxide are introduced to.