Process for preparing rigid polyurethane foams using latent catalysts

Claim 1

In an improved method for preparing a rigid polyurethane foam by reacting a polyol containing at least two active hydrogen atoms, as determined by the Zerewitinoff method, with a polyfunctional isocyanate, the reaction being conducted in the presence of a blowing agent, a surfactant and a catalyst, the improved which resides in increasing the time interval between the combining of said polyol with said isocyanate and the initiation of said reaction by employing a latent catalyst consisting essentially of a mixture containing 1) a diorganotin compound represented by a formula selected from the group consisting of R 1 R 2 SnS x , R 1 R 2 Sn(SCN) 2 , (R 1 R 2 SnSCN) 2 S x and (R 1 R 2 SnSCN) 2 O and 2) an amine selected from the group consisting of tertiary amines of the formula R 3 R 4 R 5 N wherein R 1 and R 2 are individually selected from the group consisting of alkyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl and alkaryl, R 3 , R 4 and R 5 are individually selected from the group consisting of alkyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, hydroxyalkyl containing from 2 to 4 carbon atoms, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl and alkaryl, alternatively two of the carbon atoms of the R 3 , R 4 or R 5 groups bonded to the nitrogen atom can be part of the same divalent hydrocarbon group such that the resultant ring contains 5 or 6 atoms one of which is the nitrogen atom and wherein the resultant heterocyclic ring can also contain one additional heteroatom such as oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur; and x is an interger from 1 to 4, and wherein the concentration of said diorganotin compound is from 0.1 to 10 parts by weight per 100 parts of said polyol and the concentration of said tertiary amine or heterocyclic tertiary amine is from 0.1 to 4 parts by weight per 100 parts of polyol.