Yang Li, F. Heatley, T. Blease
Feb 1, 1997
Citations
0
Influential Citations
9
Citations
Journal
European Polymer Journal
Abstract
Abstract Short-chain ethoxylates of 1-decanol, 2-methyl-1-pentanol and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol have been prepared using anionic catalysis, and their 13 C-NMR spectra assigned. The oligomer distribution may be determined for ethylene oxide chain lengths of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and ≥ 5 using the CH 2 O alkanol resonance. The information from these model compounds was used to analyse commercial ethoxylates produced using an alkanol comprising several isomeric components; the distributions for various components could be determined. The oligomer distributions were comparable to those obtained from gas chromatography, and were well simulated using a simple numerical method with previously published oligomeric reactivity coefficients. The NMR technique may be particularly valuable when the alkanol consists of a mixture of isomers, or when the use of elevated temperatures is not feasible.