Hyperbranched Polyaspartate Esters and a Process for Their Preparation
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Europäisches Patentamt *EP000743335B1* (19) European Patent Office Office européen des brevets (11) EP 0 743 335 B1 (12) EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION (45) Date of publication and mention (51) Int Cl.7: C08G 63/685 of the grant of the patent: 26.09.2001 Bulletin 2001/39 (21) Application number: 96107069.5 (22) Date of filing: 06.05.1996 (54) Hyperbranched polyaspartate esters and a process for their preparation Hyperverzweigte Polyaspartatester und Verfahren zu ihrer Herstellung Ester de polyaspartate hyperramifiés et procédé pour leur préparation (84) Designated Contracting States: (74) Representative: Pettrich, Klaus-Günter, Dr. AT BE CH DE ES FR GB IT LI NL SE c/o Bayer AG, Konzernbereich RP (30) Priority: 18.05.1995 US 443505 Patente und Lizenzen 51368 Leverkusen (DE) (43) Date of publication of application: 20.11.1996 Bulletin 1996/47 (56) References cited: US-A- 5 126 170 (73) Proprietor: Bayer Corporation Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9741 (US) • ISRA L JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY, vol. 9, 1971, JERUSALEM, pages 105-109, XP000670606 A. (72) Inventors: SINGERMAN ET AL.: "Poly threo-beta-hydroxy • Yeske, Philip E. aspartic acid" Pittsburgh, PA 15228 (US) • Gindin, Lyuba K. Remarks: Pittsburgh, PA 15216 (US) The file contains technical information submitted • Wicks, Douglas A. after the application was filed and not included in this Mt. Lebanon, PA 15228 (US) specification • Jonsson, E. Haakan Coraopolis, PA 15108 (US) Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). EP 0 743 335 B1 Printed by Jouve, 75001 PARIS (FR) EP 0 743 335 B1 Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 5 Field of the Invention [0001] This present invention relates to hyperbranched amine-functional polyesters, i.e., polyaspartate esters, and to a method for their preparation by the self condensation of hydroxy aspartate esters via a transesterification reaction. 10 Description of the Prior Art [0002] Coating compositions containing, as binders, polyisocyanates in combination with polyaspartates containing secondary amino groups are known and disclosed in U.S. Patent 5,126,170 and also DE-OS 2,158,945. However, the functionality of these polyaspartates is limited to the functionality of the starting polyamine. Higher functionalities are 15 required to provide increased hardness as well as solvent resistance. However, as the functionality of these polyaspar- tates increases, the viscosity also increases such that more solvent is required to reduce the viscosity of the composition to typical application levels. [0003] It is an object of the present invention to provide highly functional resins, which have a low viscosity and may be used for various applications, especially for the production of coatings having a high degree of hardness and solvent 20 resistance. [0004] This object may be achieved with the hyperbranched amine-functional polyesters according to the present invention that are described in more detail below. It is surprising that these amine-functional polyesters can be prepared since it would be expected that they would not be stable enough to satisfy this object due to the well known fact that amines cause the degradation of ester groups. 25 [0005] Hyperbranched polymers have been disclosed in the prior art. See, for example, PCT application WO 93/21259, "The Solid-Phase Synthesis of Dendritic Polyamides" by Uhrich et al, Polymer Bulletin 25, pg. 551 to 558 (1991); "Synthesis, characterization, And Curing of Hyperbranched Allyl Ether-Maleate Functional Ester Resins" by Johansson et al, J. of Polymer Science: Part A: Polymer Chemistry, Vol. 31, pg. 619-624 (1993); "High-Solid Alkyds Based on Hyperbranched (Dendritic) Polymers - A New Concept with New Opportunities" by Pettersson et al, presented 30 at the Waterborne, Higher-Solids, and Powder Coatings Symposium, Feb. 9-11, 1994; "Chemistry of Dendritic Mole- cules Holds Growing Allure for Researchers," Chemical & Engineering News, Feb. 1, 1993; and "Dendrimers Nearing Availability for Commercial Evaluation;" Chemical & Engineering News, Aug. 16, 1993. [0006] None of the preceding references teach or suggest the amine-functional polyesters according to the present invention. 35 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] The present invention relates to hyperbranched polyaspartate esters containing repeating structural units corresponding to formula I 40 45 50 wherein R3 and R4 may be identical or different and represent hydrogen or organic groups which are inert towards 55 isocyanate groups at a temperature of 100°C or less, and R5 represents a hydrocarbon radical containing at least two carbons, n has a value of 1 to 3 and x has a value of 1 to 3, but cannot be greater than n. 2 EP 0 743 335 B1 [0008] The present invention also relates to a process for the preparation of hyperbranched polyaspartate esters by self condensing, via a transesterification reaction of the hydroxy and ester groups of hydroxy aspartates corresponding to the formula 5 10 15 wherein R1 and R2 may be identical or different and represent organic groups which are inert to- wards isocyanate groups at a temperature of 100°C or less, and 20 R3, R4, R5 and n are as defined above, at a temperature of 60 to 240°C to form hyperbranched polyaspartate esters and eliminating alcohols having the formula R1-OH and/or R2-OH. 25 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING [0009] The Figure sets forth an example of a hyperbranched polyaspartate ester which may be obtained according to the present invention. 30 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0010] Suitable hydroxy aspartates for use as starting materials according to the invention are prepared by reacting optionally substituted maleic or fumaric acid esters with amino alcohols. Suitable optionally substituted maleic or fumaric acid esters are those corresponding to the formula 35 R1OOC-CR3=CR4-COOR2 wherein 40 R1 and R2 may be identical or different and represent organic groups which are inert towards isocyanate groups at a temperature of 100°C or less, preferably an alkyl radical containing 1 to 9 carbon atoms, more preferably methyl, ethyl or butyl groups and R3 and R4 may be identical or different and represent hydrogen or organic groups which are inert towards 45 isocyanate groups at a temperature of 100°C or less, preferably hydrogen. [0011] Examples of optionally substituted maleic or fumaric acid esters suitable for use in the preparation of the compounds corresponding to formula I include dimethyl, diethyl and dibutyl (e.g., di-n-butyl) esters of maleic acid and fumaric acid and the corresponding maleic or fumaric acid esters substituted by methyl in the 2- or 2- and 3-position. 50 [0012] Suitable amino alcohols for preparing the hydroxy aspartates are those containing one primary amino group and at least one, preferably 1 to 3, and more preferably 1 hydroxy group, provided that the hydroxy group(s) are aliphatically (including araliphatically) or cycloaliphatically bound. These amino alcohols correspond to the formula H N-R -(OH) 55 2 5 n wherein 3 EP 0 743 335 B1 R5 represents the hydrocarbon radical obtained by removing the amino and hydroxyl groups from an amino alcohol and n has a value of 1 to 3, preferably 1. 5 [0013] Suitable amino alcohols include ethanolamine, 1-amino-2-hydroxypropane, 1-amino-3-hydroxypropane, 1-hydroxy-2-aminopropane and 1,3-propanolamine, the isomeric butanol amines, 2-amino-1,3-propane diol, 2-amino- 2-hydroxymethyl-propane diol and 4-hydroxymethyl aniline. The monohydroxy amines are preferred, especially eth- anolamine and the isomeric propanol and butanol amines. [0014] The preparation of hydroxy aspartates takes place by the Michael addition of the amino alcohol to the un- 10 saturated diester at a temperature of 0 to 100°C. using the starting materials in such proportions that at least 1, pref- erably 1, olefinic double bond is present for each primary amino group. Excess starting materials may be removed by distillation after the reaction. The reaction may be carried out solvent-free or in the presence of suitable solvents such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran, pyridine, dimethyl formamide, nitromethane and mixtures of such solvents. 15 [0015] The hyperbranched polyaspartate esters according to the invention are prepared by the self condensation of the hydroxy aspartates via a transesterification reaction at an elevated temperature of 60 to 240°C, preferably 70 to 200°C and more preferably 80 to 140°C, optionally in the presence of a known transesterification catalyst. Examples of suitable catalysts include the known titanium, tin, zinc, antimony and lead compounds, such as titanium(IV) butoxide, tetrakis(2-ethylhexyl)-titanate, tin(IV) oxide, dibutyltin oxide, dioctyltin oxide, dibutyltin dilaurate, dioctyltin dilaurate, 20 butyltin hydroxide oxide, octyltin hydroxide, zinc(IV) oxide, zinc(II) oxide, lead phenolate and lead acetate. [0016] The invention may be illustrated by the following reaction scheme using an aspartic acid ester containing one secondary amino group and one hydroxy group as the starting material. Two hydroxy aspartate molecules react to form a polymer corresponding to formula III or formula IV: 25 30 35 40 45 50 [0017] The compound represented by formula III is formed by the transesterification of the R1 group, while the com- pound represented by formula IV is formed by the transesterification of the R2 group. The next hydroxy aspartate molecule may be incorporated by transesterification of any of the remaining R1 or R2 groups. Because both of the R1 and R2 groups on any particular hydroxy aspartate molecule may be transesterified, substantial branching is present 55 in the resulting product. Thus, these products as referred to as being hyperbranched.