The Waterborne Symposium

Azelaic acid is a dicarboxylic acid and is derived from vegetable oils that are rich in high oleic triglycerides. It is typically introduced into polyurethane (PU) coatings via a prepolymer typically reacted with with glycols such as ethylene or propylene glycol. The prepolymer route is often involved the use solvents and tin catalysts for the polycondensation reaction. Furthermore, the prepolymer route often results in higher molecular weight, undesirable viscosity, and lower hydroxyl functionality.
In this paper we present our green chemistry approaches for making bis(2-hydroxypropyl) azelate (BHA) by reacting azelaic acid with propylene oxide. Detailed analytical characterization of the BHA monomers will be presented. An aliphatic polyurethane dispersion with various amounts of BHA will be made and their structure property relationship will be discussed. The PU coatings derived from BHA will be evaluated for their performance towards chemical, hydrolytic and corrosion resistance.