Alkyd polymer compositions and product formulations formed therefrom

An alkyd polymer consisting of, as polymerized units:

• 15 to 75 wt. % of one or more fatty acids selected from the group consisting of dehydrated castor oil fatty acid, soybean oil fatty acid, tall oil fatty acid, sunflower fatty acid, coconut fatty acid, castor oil fatty acid, linseed oil fatty acid, tung oil fatty acid, safflower fatty acid, lineloic acid, and mixtures thereof;
• 5 to 35 wt. % of a sugar alcohol having at least 6 carbon atoms, wherein the sugar alcohol is one or more selected from the group consisting of fucitol, galactitol, iditol, inositol, mannitol, sorbitol, and a combination thereof;
• 2 to 10 wt. % of a polyol with four or more hydroxyl functional groups selected from the group consisting of pentaerythitrol, dipentaerythritol, and mixtures thereof;
• a monocarboxylic acid;
• and
• 5 to 25 wt. % of one or more aromatic polyacid with at least two carboxylic acid groups located in a meta-position relative to one another selected from the group consisting of isophthalic acid, trimellitic anhydride, trimellitic acid, 5-(sodiosulfo)-isophthalic acid, pyromellitic dianhydride, and a mixture thereof;
• optionally further including as part of the polymerized units, one or more acrylic polymers, vinyl polymers, or mixtures thereof, obtained by radical polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated (meth)acrylate or vinyl monomers in the presence of the alkyd polymer and a radical initiator;
• wherein the alkyd polymer comprises at least one aliphatic oxide ring having one or more peaks located between 75 to 90 ppm measured using C13 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy;
• and
• wherein the alkyd polymer has a Gardner-Holdt viscosity with 30 weight % mineral spirits at 25° C. that is less than or equal to Z4, a dry-hard time of less than 10 hours when tested with metal driers according to ASTM D1640-03, and a clear appearance that transmits 20% or more of impinging visible light having a wavelength of 540 nm.