Non-crosslinked, polybranched polymers

Claim 2

A composition of matter as claimed in claim 1 which is a hydrolysis product.

Claim 3

A composition of matter as claimed in claim 1 wherein the B segment has the unit formula

Claim 4

A composition of matter as claimed in claim 1 wherein the A segment has the unit formula and the B segment has the unit formula

Claim 5

A process for preparing non-crosslinked poly-branched polymers having the general formula wherein R c is a non-reactive end group and each R°, R¹, R², R³, and R i is selected from initiators selected from a group consisting of free radical initiators, cationic initiators, anionic initiators, and group transfer initiators; (i) represents repetitive linear polymers having the unit formula {(A i )--(B i )} ; A c , A°, A¹, A², A³, and A i are non-reactive comonomers or, oligomers or polymers formed from a polymerizable monomer, said oligomers or polymers being capable of withstanding the conditions required for preparation of a graft polymer; B c , B°, B¹, B², B³, and B i are protected or unprotected reactive nucleophilic or electrophilic monomers or, oligomers or polymers formed from a polymerizable monomer, said oligomers or polymers being capable of withstanding the conditions required for preparation of a graft polymer; G is a terminating group or a grafting component; n c is the degree of polymerization of a core initiator; n° is the degree of polymerization of a first comb branch; n¹ is the degree of polymerization of a first generation comb-burst branch; n² is the degree of polymerization of a second generation comb-burst branch; n³ is the degree of polymerization of a third generation comb-burst branch, n i is the degree of polymerization of the i th generation comb-burst polymer having at least one branch point; wherein n i ≧ 2 for the case where i = c, °, and 1, and n i ≧ 2 if n i·1 is > zero, the largest i for which n i does not equal zero is the total generation level of the polymer wherein the superscripts c, °, 1, 2, 3, and i designate comb-burst generation level; the unit ratio of A units to B units in any {(A)--(B)} segment of the polymer is 0 to 1:100 to 1, the process comprising (I) forming a linear initiator core having at least one reactive site and having the general formula R c -{(A c )--(B c )}n c G c ; (II) reacting essentially all of the sites (B c ) of (I) with a reactive polymer having the unit formula G°(A°)--(B°)}n°R° to form multiple branches that contain at least one multiple reactive site on each branch using protection-deprotection reactions to ensure that the unit formula G°(A°)--(B°)}n°R° reacts with all (B c ) sites of (I) but that no reactions occur at the reactive sites B°; (III) repeat (II) sequentially to form successive generations of reactive branches to give the desired non-crosslinked poly-branched polymers.

Claim 6

A process as claimed in claim 5 wherein linear polyethyleneimine is reacted with oxazoline oligomers and is grafted thereby.

Claim 7

A process as claimed in claim 6 wherein the oxazoline oligomer is poly-2-alkyl substituted oxazoline.

Claim 8

A process as claimed in claim 6 wherein the oxazoline oligomer is poly-2-aryl substituted oxazoline.

Claim 9

A process as claimed in claim 6, wherein the grafted polymer is hydrolyzed after grafting.

Claim 10

A process as claimed in claim 7, wherein the grafted polymer is hydrolyzed after grafting.

Claim 11

A process as claimed in claim 8, wherein the grafted polymer is hydrolyzed after grafting.