(Meth)acrylic ester of alkenylene glycols and the use thereof

A process for preparing a diester F of a formula I

• wherein AO independently at each instance is —O—CHR3-CHR4- in the (AO)p1 moiety and is —CHR3-CHR4-O— in the (AO)p2 moiety, wherein R3 and R4 are independently H or linear or branched C1-C8-alkyl,
• p1 is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, or 35,
• p2 is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, or 35,
• n is 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, or 100, and
• R1and R2 are independently H or CH3,
• wherein there is at least one AO in (AO)p1 and also at least one AO in (AO)p2, and wherein R3 and R4 are not both H at one and the same time,
• by esterifying an alkoxylated glycol of a formula II
• wherein (AO)p1, (AO)p2, and n are as defined above with (meth)acrylic acid, comprising the steps of
• a) reacting alkoxylated glycol II with (meth)acrylic acid in the presence of at least one esterification catalyst C, at least one polymerization inhibitor D, and optionally a water-azeotroping solvent E to form the ester F,
• b) optionally removing from the reaction mixture some or all of the water formed in a), during and/or after a),
• f) optionally neutralizing the reaction mixture,
• h) when a solvent E is used, optionally removing the solvent E by distillation, and/or
• i) stripping the reaction mixture with a gas which is inert under the reaction conditions.