Process for the preparation of copolymers containing hydroxyl groups and the use thereof

Abstract

Process for preparing copolymers soluble in organic solvents and containing hydroxyl groups, by the polymerization and esterification of (a) at least one .alpha.,.beta.-olefinically unsaturated carboxylic acid with (b) at least one olefinically unsaturated copolymerizable monomer and (c) at least one epoxy group-containing compound, at an elevated temperature, in the presence of a polymerization catalyst and, advantageously, a polymerization modifier, characterized in that glycidol, ##STR1## is used as component (c), either alone or in admixture with one or more glycidyl esters with 12 to 19 carbon atoms and derived from saturated fatty acids, the number of epoxy groups being at least equivalent to the number of carboxyl groups, and in mixtures of glycidol with glycidyl esters, the number of equivalents of glycidyl esters is at most twice as great as the number of equivalents of glycidol. The invention further relates to the use of the products obtained for the preparation of air- or oven-drying coating compositions.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.