Polyarylate compositions having improved hydrolytic stability

Claim 2

A molding composition comprising a blend of: (a) a polyarylate derived from a dihydric phenol and an aromatic dicarboxylic acid, (b) a polyester derived from an aliphatic or cycloaliphatic diol and at least one aromatic dicarboxylic acid, and (c) an epoxide.

Claim 3

A composition as defined in claim 1 wherein the dihydric phenol is of the formula: wherein Y is selected from alkyl groups of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, chlorine or bromine, each z, independently, has a value of from 0 preferably 0 to 4, inclusive and R' is a divalent saturated or unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon radical selected from alkylene and alkylidene radicals having from 1 to 3 carbon atoms, and cycloalkylene or cycloalkylidene radicals having up to and including 9 carbon atoms, preferably an alkylidene radical of 3 carbon atoms.

Claim 4

3 . A composition as defined in claim 1 or 2 wherein the aromatic dicarboxylic acid is a mixture of isophthalic and terephthalic acids.

Claim 5

A composition as in claim 1to 3 wherein the polyester has repeating units of the general formula: wherein n is an integer of from 2 to 4, preferably is poly(ethylene terephthalate) or the polyester has recurring units of the following formula: wherein the cyclohexane ring is selected from the cis- and trans-isomer thereof, and R is an aryl radical containing 6 to 20 carbon atoms and which is the decarboxylated residue derived from an aromatic dicarboxylic acid, preferably units of the formula:

Claim 6

A composition as defined in claim 1 to 3 wherein the polyester is a copolyester having repeating units of the following formula: wherein the cyclohexane ring is selected from the cis- and trans-isomers thereof, R is an aryl radical containing 6 to 20 carbon atoms and which is the dicarboxylated residue derived from an aromatic dicarboxylic acid, n is an inter of 2 to 4, x units comprise from about 10 to about 90 percent by weight and the y units comprise from about 10 to about 90 percent by weight , preferably units of the following formula.

Claim 7

A composition as defined in claim 1 wherein the epoxide is a) a polyglycidyl compound or b) of the following formula: wherein n has a value from greater than 0 to about 10 or c) of the following formula: wherein Y 1 through Y 9 which can be the same or different are selected from hydrogen or alkyl radicals containing one to nine carbon atoms inclusive and Y is a valence bond or a divalent hydrocarbon radical containing one to nine carbon atoms or d) of the following formula: wherein Y 1 through Y 9 which can be the same or different are selected from hydrogen or alkyl radicals containing one to nine carbon atoms inclusive and Y is a valence bond or a divalent hydrocarbon radical containing one to nine carbon atoms or e) of the following formula: wherein the Y single and double primes, which can be the same or different, are hydrogen, halogen, or monovalent nydrocarbon radicals or f) of the following formula: or g) of the following formula: or h) of the following formula:

Claim 8

7 . A composition as defined in claim 6c wherein Y 1 through Yg are hydrogen and Y is alkylene containing 4 to 6 carbon atoms.

Claim 9

A composition as defined in claims which contains a thermoplastic polymer selected from the group consisting of an aromatic polycarbonate, a styrene polymer, a poly(alkyl acrylate), a polyurethane, a vinyl chloride polyer, a poly(arylether), a copolyetherester block copolymer, a polyhydroxyether, and combinations hereof.

Claim 10

A composition as defined in claim 8 wherein the aromatic polycarbonate is the reaction product of a dihydric phenol and a carbonate precursor, preferably the dihydric phenol is bisphenol-A and the carbonate precursor is carbonyl chloride.

Claim 11

A composition as defined in claim 8 wherein the styrene resin is prepared by polymerizing a conjugated diene monomer or a conjugated diene monomer with a monomer I copolymerizable therewith or an acrylic acid ester to provide an elastomeric backbone and thereafter grafting at least one grafting monomer onto said backbone, wherein preferably the conjugated diene monomer is butadiene and the grafting monomer is selected from styrene, an acrylonitrile, an acrylic acid ester, or mixtures thereof, especially the styrene resin is a butadiene/styrene/acrylonitrile resin.

Claim 12

A composition as defined in claim 8 wherein the poly(alkyl acrylate) is poly(methyl methacrylate) or a copolymer of ' .methyl methacrylate and a vinyl monomer wherein the amount of methyl methacrylate is greater than about 70 percent by weight of the copolymer, preferably the vinyl monomer is selected from acrylonitrile, N-allylmaleimide, N-vinylmaleimide or an alkyl acrylate or methacrylate, wherein the alkyl group contains from 1 to 8 carbon atoms , or the alkylacrylate is alkyl acrylate grafted onto an unsaturated elastomeric backbone, wherein the alkyl acrylate comprises greater than about 50 weight percent of the graft copolymer formed.

Claim 13

A composition as defined in claim 8 wherein the polyurethane is derived from a polyester resin having a molecular or a polyether weight of at least about 600, an organic diisocyanate, and a low molecular weight chain extender having active hydrogen containing groups which are reactive with the diisocyanate, wherein preferably the polyether is selected from polytetramethylene glycol having an average molecular weight between about 600 and about 200 0, propylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol having a molecular weight above 600.

Claim 14

1 3 . A composition as defined in claim 8 wherein the poly(vinyl chloride) polymer is a copolymer of vinyl chloride with an olefinically unsaturated polymerizable compound which contains at least about 80 percent by weight of vinyl chloride incorporated therein.

Claim 15

A composition as defined in claim 8 wherein the poly(aryl ether) comprises recurring units of the formula: wherein E is the residuum of a dihydric phenol and E' is the residuum of a benzenoid compound having an inert electron withdrawing group , preferably the poly(aryl ether) has recurring units having the formula: A and A 1 can be the same or different inert substituent groups and are selected from alkyl groups having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, or alkoxy radicals having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, R 1 represents a bond between aromatic carbon atoms or a divalent connecting radical, preferably R 2 is sulfone, carbonyl or sulfoxide, preferably S0 2 , r and r 1 are integers having a value of from 0 to 4, inclusive and r 1 is preferably 0. 15. A composition as defined in claim 8 wherein the copolyetherester block copolymer has a multiplicity of recurring intralinear long chain and short chain ester units connected head-to-tail through ester linkages, said long chain ester units being represented by the following structure: and said short chain ester units being represented by the following structure wherein G is a divalent radical remaining after removal of terminal hydroxy groups from a poly(alkylene oxide) glycol having a molecular weight of from about 400 to about 3500, D is a divalent radical remaining after removal of hydroxyl groups from a low molecular weight diol, and R 3 is a divalent radical remaining after removal of carboxyl groups from a dicarboxylic acid; with the provisos that the short chain ester units constitute from about 25 to 65% by weight of the copolyester, at least about 70% of the R 3 groups are 1,4-phenylene radicals, at least about 70% of the D groups are 1,4-butylene radicals, and the sum of the percentages of the R 3 groups which are not 1,4-phenylene radicals and of the D groups which are not 1,4-butylene radicals do not exceed about 30%.

Claim 16

16 . A composition as defined in claim 8 wherein the polyhydroxyether has the general formula wherein F is the radical residuum of a dihydric phenol, E" is a radical residuum of an epoxide selected from mono-and diepoxides containing from-1 to 2 hydroxyl groups and n is an integer which represents the degree of polymerization and is at least about 30.