Adhesive compositions containing aqueous copolymer dispersions and acid metal salts or free acids

An adhesive composition having a high resistance to hot water and a long pot life comprising an aqueous vinyl ester graft copolymer dispersion, a water-soluble metal salt of a monobasic acid having a pK.sub.a of less than 0, in which the vinyl ester graft copolymer comprises:

• I. 2 to 12% by weight, based on the total weight of the graft copolymer, of at least one polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of hydrolysis of from 60 to 99 mole percent;
• and
• II. 88 to 98% by weight, based on the total weight of the graft copolymer, of a monomer mixer containing:
• (a) 5 to 50% by weight, based on the total weight of the monomer mixture, of vinyl esters of saturated, highly branched aliphatic monocarboxylic acids having 9 or 10 carbon atoms, vinyl pivalate, diisopropyl maleate, diisopropyl fumarate, vinyl chloride and mixtures thereof;
• (b) 50 to 95% by weight, based on the total weight of the monomer mixture, of vinyl esters other than (a) having 1 to 18 carbon atoms in the acid radical;
• (c) 0.01 to 4% by weight, based on the total weight of the monomer mixture, of copolymerizable polyethylenically unsaturated monomers;
• and
• (d) 0 to 26% by weight, based on the total weight of the monomer mixture, of other copolymerizable mono-ethylenically unsaturated monomers.