Polyesterification reactions of adipic acid‐based polyesters

Abstract

Abstract A series of studies of uncatalyzed and catalyzed polyesterification experiments have been investigated using different glycols at different temperatures. The experimental results for uncatalyzed reactions agreed quite well with the kinetic equation as proposed by P. J. Flory. However, Flory proposed a second‐order reaction for an externally added strong acid as a catalyst. In contrast to Flory's theory, a mixed mechanism, based on a combination of carboxylic acid groups from the raw material and an external organotin catalyst, was proposed for the catalyzed reaction. In this article, the reaction rate of catalyzed and uncatalyzed polyesterifications using different glycols was compared, and the effect of different temperatures and catalyst levels was also discussed. The reaction rate constant decreases in the following order for both catalyzed and uncatalyzed polyesterification: 1,6‐HD > 1,4‐BD > NPG > DEG > EG ≫ PG. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.