Method to produce copolymers of tetrahydrofuran and epoxidised natural oils
AssigneeMalaysian Palm Oil Board
InventorHoong Seng Soi
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method to produce polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) copolymer from plant oil by copolymerizing epoxidized oil; preferably from natural sources like animal oils and more preferably from plants oils; with tetrahydrofuran (THF), in the presence of boron trifluoride-diethylether complex or tetrafluoroboric acid to yield the desired copolymer with specific properties. The properties of the produced PTHF copolymer depends on the (i) type of epoxidized oil used as co-monomer (ii) mole ratio between epoxidized oil and THF (iii) amount of catalyst (iv) reaction temperature (v) reaction time. The produced PTHF copolymers were then used as raw material for the production of polyurethane and polyurea.
Claims18
A method to produce polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) copolymer from epoxidized oil from natural sources and tetrahydrofuran wherein:
- the epoxidized oil is copolymerized in tetrahydrofuran in the presence of catalyst to produce the copolymer (PTHF), and
- the amount of tetrahydrofuran used in polymerization reaction is 1 to 100 times (w/v) the amount of epoxidized oil and/or the amount of catalyst used is between 0.01 mole to 0.1 mole to each mole of epoxy group of the epoxidized oil.
A method for producing polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) copolymer from epoxidized oil from natural sources and tetrahydrofuran, comprising:
- dissolving epoxidized oil in tetrahydrofuran;
- and
- copolymerizing at least a portion of the epoxidized oil and tetrahydrofuran in the presence of catalyst to produce the copolymer (PTHF), wherein:
- the epoxidized oil is dissolved in the tetrahydrofuran in a ratio of 1:1 (w/v) to 1:100 (w/v) and/or the PTHF copolymer has a hydroxyl value of 20 to 40 mg KOH/g sample.
A method to produce polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) copolymer from epoxidized oil from natural sources and tetrahydrofuran wherein:
- the epoxidized oil is copolymerized in tetrahydrofuran in the presence of catalyst to produce the copolymer (PTHF);
- and
- the (PTHF) copolymer has at least one characteristic selected from:
- a polymeric content of 80% to 97%,
- a hydroxyl value of 20 to 40 mg KOH/g sample, or
- a number average molecular weight Mn of 22000 to 120000.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.