Claims
- 1. A process for the preparation of a highly substituted polyol ester containing essentially no unreacted formate bonds wherein said process comprises:
- (a) reacting ethylene with methyl formate in the presence of a free radical initiator to produce a mixture of linear methyl esters (I), linear .alpha.-alkyl methyl esters (II) and linear .alpha.,.alpha.-dialkyl methyl esters (III) wherein (I) and (II) and (III) are represented by the general formula: ##STR4## wherein X is an integer having values of 1 to about 60; y and z are each integers having values.gtoreq.0 with the proviso that the sum (x+y+z).ltoreq.60;
- (b) transesterifying the mixture of esters I, II and III with at least one polyol selected from the group consisting of: ##STR5## wherein X is --CH.sub.2 OH, alkyl having 1 to about 12 carbon atoms or aryl or aralkyl groups having 6 to about 10 carbon atoms; ##STR6## wherein n is an integer having values of 0 to 6 and each of R and R' is H or alkyl having 1 to about 12 carbon atoms; or
- (3) anhydro products of (1) or (2) containing 1 to about 5 ether linkages formed by the condensation of two or more --CH.sub.2 OH groups with the elimination of H.sub.2 O from at least one pair of --CH.sub.2 OH groups, such that the resultant polyol ester consists essentially of polyol esters derived from esters (I) and (II) and untransesterified ester (III);
- (c) removing excess ethylene and methyl formate from the mixture of step (b);
- (d) collecting a highly substituted polyol ester wherein said polyol ester is essentially free of unreacted formate bonds.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein the telomerization products in step (d) have a number average molecular weight of about 115 to about 1000.
- 3. Process claimed in claim 1 wherein the polyol is trimethylolpropane.
- 4. Process claimed in claim 1 wherein the polyol is pentaerythritol.
- 5. Process claimed in claim 1 wherein the polyol is dipentaerythritol.
- 6. Process claimed in claim 1 wherein the transesterification catalyst is sodium metal.
- 7. Process claimed in claim 1 wherein the transesterification catalyst is sodium methoxide.
- 8. Process claimed in claim 1 wherein the transesterification catalyst is an alkyl titanate.
- 9. Process claimed in claim 1 wherein the transesterification catalyst is lead or a lead derivative.
- 10. Process claimed in claim 1 wherein the transesterification catalyst is a heavy metal acetate.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of our prior U.S. application Ser. No. 920,832, filing date June 30, 1978, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 782,598, filing date Mar. 30, 1977, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
920832 |
Jun 1978 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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782598 |
Mar 1977 |
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