the activated polyethers of this invention have a functionality of between 1 and 6 , and a molecular weight of from 106 to 6000 . they are further characterized in that they have relatively low viscosities ranging from about 50 to 5000 centipoises , and an equivalent weight based on their hydroxyl functional group ranging from 50 to 2500 . as set forth above , the activated polyether is prepared by reacting a polyether containing a terminal leaving group with an aminoalcohol selected from the group consisting of a n - alkylaminoalcohol , n - arylaminoalcohol and a dialcoholamine , at a temperature of about 50 to 250 degrees centigrade . the polyether containing a terminal leaving group can be obtained by converting the hydroxyl group of a polyether polyol to a suitable leaving group . illustrative but non - limiting examples of the leaving groups can be selected from the group consisting of a halide , a sulfonate ( mesylate ), a nitrophenoxy group and the like . illustrative but non - limiting examples of the polyethers containing hydroxyl groups suitable for use in accordance with the invention can be obtained by the polymerization of alkylene oxides such as ethylene oxide , propylene oxide , butylene oxide , tetrahydrofuran , styrene oxide or epichlorohydrin on their own , in the presence of for example boron trifloride , or by the addition of these epoxides , optionally in admixture or successively onto starter components containing reactive hydrogen atoms , such as water , alcohols or amines , for example ethylene glycol , 1 , 3 - or 1 , 2 - propylene glycol , trimethylol propane , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dihydroxydiphenyl propane , aniline , ammonia , ethanolamine or ethylene diamine or a mixture thereof . in preparing a polyether containing a halide leaving group , e . g ., a polyether alkyl halide , a halogenation agent corresponding to the halide is reacted with a polyether polyol . generally , such a reaction can be conducted at a temperature ranging from - 30 to 40 degrees centigrade over a period of up to 8 hours . illustratively , in preparing a polyether containing a halide leaving group , a polyether polyol is reacted with a halogenation agent such as carbonyl chloride , ( alternately referred to herein as phosgene ) typically , a temperature ranging from 0 to 40 degrees centigrade over a period of 2 to 8 hours . the resultant product rearranges at temperatures from 75 to 150 and preferably 100 to 120 degrees centigrade , in the presence of a tertiary amine or amide to produce polyether alkyl chloride . other halogenation agents that can be reacted with a polyether polyol can be thionyl chloride , or triphenyl phosphine in carbon tetrachloride . in preparing a polyether containing a sulfonate leaving group , e . g ., a polyether sulfonate , a polyether polyol can be reacted with methanesulfonyl chloride in the presence of a tertiary amine or amide . the reaction can be conducted at a temperature in the range of - 30 to 40 degrees centigrade . non - limiting examples of the tertiary amine can be pyridine , triethylamine , tributyl amine . non - limiting example of the amide can be n , n - dimethylformamide or n , n - dibutylformamide . aminoalcohols selected from the group consisting of n - alkylaminoalcohols , n - arylaminoalcohols and dialcoholamines are reacted with the polyether containing a leaving group over a temperature range of 50 to 250 degrees centigrade to produce the activated polyethers of the invention . the useful n - alkylaminoalcohols n - arylaminoalcohols and dialcoholamines can contain from 1 to 18 and preferably 3 to 12 carbon atoms . non - limiting examples of aminoalcohols can be selected from the group consisting of n - methylaminoethanol , n - ethylaminoethanol diethanolamine , diisopropanolamine , n - phenylethanolamine 2 -( tertbutylamino ) ethanol , n - butyl - ethanolamine , n - propyl - ethanolamine . the ratio of mole ( s ) of aminoalcohol to equivalents of leaving group of the polyether is of between 12 to 1 and 1 to 1 and preferably 3 to 1 . it is believed that the leaving group of the polyether undergoes a displacement reaction to form the activated polyether . sodium bicarbonate , sodium hydroxide , or tertiary amines can be employed as acid scavengers in the displacement reaction . any good solvent such as methylene chloride , toluene , chlorobenzene , or tetrahydrofuran ( thf ) can be used in the above reactions , if desired . the resultant activated polyethers are obtained in high conversions ( greater that 90 %) with relatively low viscosities of from 50 centipoises for 100 equivalent weight difunctional activated polyether to 2000 centipoises for a 2000 equivalent weight trifunctional activated polyether . this and other aspects of the invention are further described by the following non - limiting examples . in the examples which follow , the polyether polyol used was a glycerine / propylene oxide / ethylene oxide adduct , with the ethylene oxide being present as a 17 % by weight termination , having a 4800 molecular weight . polyol a ( 3 . 0 eq ) was added to a 5 l 3 - necked flask fitted with a stirrer and dry ice / acetone condenser . phosgene ( 3 . 75 moles ) was added at 1 . 5 mol / h , keeping the reaction temperature below 35 ° c . after the phosgene addition was complete , the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for an additional 2 hours . the chloroformate was purged with n 2 at 40 ° c . to remove residual phosgene . titration of chloroformate a showed 100 % conversion . polyol a ( 0 . 312 eq ), triethylamine ( 0 . 350 mol ), and 60 ml ch 2 cl 2 were added to a 2 l 3 - necked flask fitted with a stirrer and reflux condenser ( under nitrogen ). methane sulfonyl chloride ( 0 . 350 mol ) was added dropwise , keeping the solution temperature at 25 ° c . with an ice water bath . the reaction solution was stirred at room temperature for 0 . 5 h , then neutralized with naoh ( 0 . 350 mol ). triethylamine , solvent , and water were vacuum stripped and the product filtered to give a clear , colorless liquid . ( mesylate a ) chloroformate a ( 0 . 18 eq ) was added to a 12 l 3 - necked flask fitted with a stirrer and reflux condenser . the flask was purged with nitrogen and the chloroformate was heated to 60 ° c . n , n - dimethylformamide ( 0 . 36 mol ) was added , keeping the reaction temperature at 60 ° c . the reaction solution was then heated at 100 ° c . for 1 h , after which the dmf was vacuum stripped . 2 ( methylamino ) ethanol ( 1 . 08 mol ) was added and the solution was heated at 150 ° c . for 1 . 5 h . the solution was cooled and neutralized with naoh ( 0 . 18 mol ). excess 2 ( methylamino )- ethanol was vacuum stripped and the product filtered to give a clear , light yellow liquid with a viscosity of 890 mpa . s and an amine of 26 . 7 . the conversion was 80 % based on the amine number . mesylate a ( 0 . 060 eq ) was added to a 500 ml 3 - necked flask fitted with a stirrer and reflux condenser ( under nitrogen ). 2 -( methylamino ) ethanol ( 0 . 18 mol ) was added and the solution was heated at 150 ° c . for 2 h . the solution was cooled and neutralized with naoh ( 0 . 060 mol ). excess amine and water were vacuum stripped and the product filtered to give a clear , light yellow liquid with a viscosity of 860 mpa . s and an amine # of 33 . 2 . the conversion was 98 % based on the amine number . these examples were run using conditions identical with example 2 , keeping moles / equivalents ratios constant . ( see table i ) table 1__________________________________________________________________________activated polyol formation via displacement time % conversion viscosityexamplemesylate amine temp hr . amine ( nh )# ( based on nh #) mpa · s , 25 ° c . __________________________________________________________________________3 a 2 -( tert - butylamino )- 150 2 . 0 28 . 7 87 . 1 1660 ethanol4 a diethanolamine 150 2 . 0 30 . 1 90 . 7 17405 a diisopropanolamine 100 2 . 0 31 . 1 95 . 2 1600__________________________________________________________________________