Dihydroxy lactam based polymers, compositions and applications thereof

A polymer obtained from a reaction mixture comprising:

• (i) at least one dihydroxy lactam moiety;
• and
• (ii) at least one functional moiety having a hydroxyl-reactive functional group;
• wherein (i) and (ii) are independently present in amounts of about 0.01 mole % to about 99.99 moles % and the polymer is selected from a group consisting of polyester, polycarbonate, polyether, poly (ester ether), poly (ester amide), poly imide, polyamide, poly acrylates and poly (ester imide);
• or wherein each (i) and (ii) is present in amounts of other than 50 mole % and wherein the polymer is a polyurethane, wherein said dihydroxy lactam moiety has a structure:
• wherein “R” is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, functionalized and unfunctionalized alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl, and aryl groups, wherein any of the aforementioned groups can be with or without heteroatoms and linear or branched;
• “A” is an alkylene or alkenylene group comprising 2 to 50 carbon atoms;
• and
• wherein 2 to 4 carbon atoms reside in the lactam ring between the
• group and the
• group;
• “n” is an integer ranging from 1 to 6;
• and “m” is an integer ranging from 0 to 6, provided that the dihydroxy lactam moiety of structure (I) excludes the following compound:
• wherein at least one of the following is excluded:
• (i) the structure (II) excludes the structure 1-[2-(2,3-dihydroxypropyloxy)ethyl]-2-pyrrolidone,
• (ii) at least one functional moiety having a hydroxyl-reactive functional group having the structure of N-ethylpyrrolidone glycidyl ether (EPGE),
• (iii) or both (i) and (ii),
• wherein the reaction mixture further comprises one or more non-lactam moieties selected from the group consisting of functionalized/unfunctionalized compounds of aliphatic/aromatic alcohols with a carbon chain length of C1-C18, alkoxylated alcohols with a carbon chain length of C1-C18 alcohol, ethylene glycols, alcohol meth (acrylates), polyvinyl alcohols, polycarbonatepolyols, polybutylene glycols, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycols, hydroxypolyesters, hydroxypolyethers, hydroxypolythioesters, hydroxypolyacetals, hydroxypolycarbonates, polyetherpolyols, polyesterpolyols, polycarbonatepolyols, hydroxypolyesters, hydroxypolyethers, hydroxypolythioesters, hydroxypolyacetals, hydroxypolycarbonates, aliphatic and aromatic polyether polyols, caprolactone-based polyols, poly(ethylene glycol)-soyamine, poly(ethylene glycol)-castor oil, poly(ethylene glycol)-hydrogenated castor oil, poly(ethylene glycol)-lanolin, poly(ethylene glycol)-lanolin wax, poly(ethylene glycol)-polyvinylidene fluoride, poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(vinyl acetate), poly(ethylene glycol)-polyoxymethylene, poly(ethylene glycol)-ester, and a combination thereof.