Effect of catalysts on the reaction of an aliphatic isocyanate and water

Abstract

Abstract The kinetics of the reaction of aliphatic isocyanate with water were investigated with hexyl isocyanate as a model compound. The kinetic study was carried out with a titration method to determine the concentration of the isocyanate group as a function of time. Gas chromatography was used to augment the kinetic data obtained from the titration method. The effects of an organic acid [ p ‐toluene sulfonic acid monohydrate ( p ‐TSA)], a tertiary amine {diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO)}, and an organotin compound [dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL)] on the reaction were investigated for the conversion of isocyanate to a urea. Under the reaction conditions in this study, urea was the only product observed. The rate constants indicated that p ‐TSA had low catalytic activity, DABCO had intermediate catalytic activity, and DBTDL had high catalytic activity. A reaction mechanism was proposed for each of the catalysts. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1677–1688, 2002