In an illustrative embodiment of the partially protected reactant method using a nucleophilic core compound, a polyol such as pentaerythritol, C(CH2 OH)4, is employed as the polyvalent core generating compound and is converted to alkali metal salt form, e.g., sodium or lithium, by reaction with alkali metal hydroxide or zero valent alkali metal and then reacted with a molar excess of a partially p