Saturated, aminated, alkoxylated polybutadienes

摘要

Highly saturated, highly aminated alkoxylated polymers may be reliably made by an improved process involving the steps of (1) polymerizing one or more unsaturated hydrocarbons to form a liquid polymer, where at least one of the unsaturated hydrocarbons is butadiene; (2) providing the liquid polymer with terminal hydroxyl groups; (3) alkoxylating the hydroxylated liquid polymer with one or more alkylene oxides having at least three carbon atoms to provide secondary terminal hydroxyl groups; (4) simultaneously aminating and hydrogenating the alkoxylated liquid polymer to produce an essentially saturated, aminated, alkoxylated liquid polymer in the presence of hydrogen and ammonia and a catalyst. The catalyst preferably contains nickel as the single greatest component, with smaller amounts of copper, chromium and molybdenum. Excesses of hydrogen and ammonia are used in the final step.