Continuous polymerization process and products therefrom

摘要

A continuous process for oligomers which do not contain, as polymerized units, carboxylic acid-containing monomers and their salts, including the steps of: (1) forming a reaction mixture, substantially free of carboxylic acid-containing monomers and their salts, containing: (i) 0.5 to 99.95% by weight of the reaction mixture of at least one ethylenically unsaturated monomer; and (ii) 0.05 to 25% by weight, based on the weight of the ethylenically unsaturated monomer, of at least one free-radical initiator; and (2) continuously passing the reaction mixture through a heated zone wherein the reaction mixture is maintained at a temperature of at least 150° C. and a pressure of at least 30 bars for from 0.1 seconds to 4 minutes to form terminally-unsaturated oligomers. In addition, processes for forming oligomers of vinyl acetate and oligomers of vinyl alcohol are disclosed. Mixtures of fully saturated and terminally unsaturated oligomers are also disclosed.