Highly functional polyetherols and the production and use thereof

A process for preparing a high-functionality polyetherol comprising reacting by polymerization, other than by ring-opening polymerization of an oxetane, at least one triol or polyol with optionally at least one of a diol, a monool and/or a modifying reagent, as the only reactants, with the aid of an acidic catalyst,

• wherein the modifying reagent is not the same as said monool, diol, triol and polyol,
• wherein the triol or polyol is at least one compound selected from the following groups:
• (1) a group consisting of trimethylolmethane, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane (TMP), 1,2,4-butanetriol, tris(hydroxymethyl) isocyanurate, tris(hydroxyethyl) isocyanurate (THEIC), bistrimethylolpropane (di-TMP), pentaerythritol, bispentaerythritol (di-penta) and inositol, and
• (2) an alkoxylation product containing 1-40 ethylene oxide units per molecule and obtained by reacting any member of (1) with ethylene oxide,
• wherein the diol has two hydroxyl groups and is at least one compound selected from the following group:
• ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 1,2- and 1,3-propanediol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, neopentyl glycol, 1,2-, 1,3- and 1,4-butanediol, 1,2-, 1,3- and 1,5-pentanediol, hexanediol, dodecanediol, cyclopentanediol, cyclohexanediol, cyclohexanedimethanol, bis(4-hydroxycyclohexyl)methane, bis(4-hydroxycyclohexyl)ethane, 2,2-bis(4-hydroxycyclohexyl)propane, a dihydroxyl-group containing polyetherpolyol based on ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, butylene oxide or mixtures thereof, and polytetrahydrofuran terminated at each end thereof with a hydroxyl group, and
• wherein the modifying reagent adds randomly distributed functionalities other than the OH groups to the high-functionality polyetherol and comprises a compound bearing mercapto groups;
• primary, secondary or tertiary amino groups;
• three carboxyl groups or esters thereof;
• sulfonic acid groups or derivatives thereof;
• phosphonic acid groups or derivatives thereof, silane groups, and siloxane groups.