Viscosified lactam polymerization initiator solutions

Claim 2

A composition comprising a lactam monomer, a lactam polymerization initiator coreactant and an effective amount of a viscosity enhancing compound selected from the group consisting of the lactamates and ω-amino acid salts of barium, calcium, and strontium, wherein the lactam polymerization initiator coreactant is a telechelic oligomer or polymer containing at least one activated N-substituted lactam group and comprises a backbone which provides elastomeric segments in a nylon block copolymer produced therefrom by lactam addition polymerization.

Claim 3

The composition of claim 1 wherein the amount of the viscosity enhancing compound is at least about 0.02 equivalent per equivalent of lactam polymerization initiator coreactant.

Claim 4

The composition of claim 1 wherein the amount of viscosity enhancing compound is from about 0.05 to about 0.1 equivalent of lactam polymerization initiator coreactant.

Claim 5

The composition of claim 1 wherein the viscosity enhancing compound is selected from the group consisting of bis(2-oxo-1-pyrrolidinyl)calcium, bis(2-oxo-1-pyrrolidinyl)strontium, bis(2-oxo-1pyrrolidinyl)barium, bis(2-oxo-1-hexahydroazepinyl)calcium, bis(2-oxo-1-hexahydroazepinyl)strontium, and bis(2-oxo-1-hexahydroazepinyl)barium.

Claim 6

The composition of claim 1 wherein the polymerization initiator coreactant comprises at least two activated lactam groups per molecule.

Claim 7

The composition of claim 1 wherein the initiator coreactant comprises from 3 to 6 activated lactam groups per molecule.

Claim 8

The composition of claim 6 wherein the lactam polymerization initiator coreactant is of number average moleular weight from about 500 to about 15,000.

Claim 9

The composition of claim 5 wherein activation of the lactam groups of the initiator coreactant is provided by adjacent electron withdrawing groups selected from the group consisting of ##STR9## where R 1 is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, alkyloxy, aryloxy or aralkyloxy groups.

Claim 10

The composition of claim 5 wherein the initiator coreactant is represented by the formula ##STR10## wherein z is the backbone moiety of equivalence n, wherein n is in the range of 2 to 10 and wherein Q is a lactam residue bonded to the carbonyl group through the nitrogen of the lactam.

Claim 11

The composition of claim 5 wherein the initiator coreactant is represented by the formula ##STR11## wherein P is a polyvalent radical of equivalence n+1, which provides an elastomeric segment when it is incorporated into a lactam copolymer and n is an integer in the range of 1 to 7, wherein A is a polyvalent radical of equivalence b +1 selected from the group consisting of ##STR12## b is an integer in the range of 1 to 3 and R 2 is a polyvalent substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyl or hydrocarbyl ether radical of molecular weight in the range of about 28 to 300, wherein Q is a residue of ε-caprolactam or 2-pyrrolidinone bonded to the A radical through the nitrogen atom of the lactam, wherein m is in the range of 0 to 5, wherein c=n-1 and d=b-1, and wherein the number of Q residues per average molecule is in the range of 2 to 10.

Claim 12

The composition of claim 10 wherein the A radical is ##STR13## and R 2 is m-phenylene or p-phenylene.

Claim 13

The composition of claim 10 wherein the P radical is a polyether, a polyester-ether, a polyesterhydrocarbon, a polymeric hydrocarbon, a polysiloxane, or mixtures thereof.

Claim 14

The composition of claim 10 wherein the P radical is derived from a hydroxy polymer selected from the group consisting of polyether polyols, polymeric hydrocarbon polyols, or polysiloxane polyols of molecular weight of at least about 1000.

Claim 15

The composition of claim 10 wherein the P radical is a polyether having a molecular weight from about 2000 to about 6000 or a polymeric hydrocarbon having a molecular weight from about 2000 to about 5000.

Claim 16

The composition of claim 1 wherein the lactam monomer is ε-caprolactam.

Claim 17

The composition of claim 9 wherein the lactam monomer is ε-caprolactam and Q is a residue of ε-caprolactam or 2-pyrrolidinone.

Claim 18

The composition of claim 10 wherein the lactam monomer is ε-caprolactam.

Claim 19

A process of preparing a nylon block copolymer, which comprises (a) preparing a first reactant stream by admixing a solution of a lactam polymerization initiator coreactant in a polymerizable lactam monomer and an effective amount of a viscosity enhancing compound selected from the group consisting of the lactamates and ω-amino acid salts of barium, calcium and strontium; (b) preparing a second reactant stream by dissolving a lactam polymerization catalyst in the polymerizable lactam monomer; and (c) admixing the first and second reactant streams and allowing polymerization to occur; wherein the lactam polymerization initiator coreactant is a telechelic oligomer or polymer containing at least one activated N-substituted lactam group and comprises a backbone which provides elastomeric segments in the nylon block copolymer.

Claim 20

A process of preparing a nylon block copolymer, which comprises (a) preparing a first reactant stream by admixing a solution of a lactam polymerization initiator coreactant in a polymerizable lactam monomer and an effective amount of a viscosity enhancing compound selected from the group consisting of the lactamates and ω-amino acid salts of barium, calcium and strontium; (b) preparing a second reactant stream by dissolving a lactam polymerization catalyst in the polymerizable lactam monomer; and (c) admixing the first and second reactant streams and allowing polymerization to occur; wherein the lactam polymerization initiator coreactant is a telechelic oligomer or polymer containing at least one activated N-substituted lactam group and comprises a backbone which provides elastomeric segments in the nylon block copolymer.

Claim 21

The process of claim 18 wherein the amount of the viscosity enhancing material is at least about 0.02 equivalent per equivalent of lactam polymerization initiator coreactant.

Claim 22

The process of claim 18 wherein the amount of viscosity enhancing material is from about 0.05 to about 0.1 equivalent per equivalent of lactam polymerization initiator coreactant.

Claim 23

The process of claim 18 wherein the viscosity enhancing compound is selected from the group consisting of bis(2-oxo-1-pyrrolidinyl)calcium, bis(2-oxo-1-pyrrolidinyl)strontium, bis(2-oxo-1-pyrrolidinyl)barium, bis(2-oxo-1-hexahydroazepinyl)calcium, bis(2-oxo-1-hexahydroazepinyl)strontium, and bis(2-oxo-1-hexahydroazepinyl)barium.

Claim 24

The process of claim 18 wherein the polymerization initiator coreactant comprises at least two activated lactam groups per molecule.

Claim 25

The process of claim 18 wherein the lactam polymerization initiator coreactant is of number average molecular weight from about 500 to about 15,000.

Claim 26

The process of claim 18 wherein activation of the lactam groups is provided by adjacent electron withdrawing groups selected from the group consisting of ##STR14## where R 1 is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, alkyloxy, aryloxy or aralkyloxy groups.

Claim 27

The process of claim 22 wherein the initiator coreactant is represented by the formula ##STR15## wherein Z is the backbone moiety of equivalence n, wherein n is in the range of 2 to 10 and wherein Q is a lactam residue bonded to the carbonyl group through the nitrogen of the lactam.

Claim 28

The process of claim 22 wherein the initiator coreactant is represented by the formula ##STR16## wherein P is a polyvalent radical of equivalence n+1, which provides an elastomeric segment when it is incorporated into a lactam copolymer and n is an integer in the range of 1 to 7, wherein A is a polyvalent radical of equivalence b+1 selected from the group consisting of ##STR17## b is an integer in the range of 1 to 3 and R 2 is a polyvalent substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyl or hydrocarbyl ether radical of molecular weight in the range of about 28 to 300, wherein Q is a residue of ε-caprolactam or 2-pyrrolidinone bonded to the A radical through the nitrogen atom of the lactam, wherein m is 0 or 5, wherein c=n-1 and d=b-1, and wherein the number of Q residues per average molecule is in the range of from 2 to 10.

Claim 29

The process of claim 26 wherein the A radical is ##STR18## and R 2 is m-phenylene or p-phenylene.

Claim 30

The process of claim 26 wherein the P radical is a polyether, a polyester-ether, a polyester-hydrocarbon; a polymeric hydrocarbon, a polysiloxane or mixtures thereof.

Claim 31

The process of claim 26 wherein the P radical is derived from a hydroxy polymer selected from the group consisting of polyether polyols, polymeric hydrocarbon polyols, or polysiloxane polyols of molecular weight of at least about 1000.

Claim 32

The process of claim 26 wherein the P radical is a polyether having a molecular weight from about 2000 to about 6000 or a polymeric hydrocarbon having a molecular weight from about 2000 to about 5000.

Claim 33

The process of claim 18 wherein the lactam polymerization catalyst is a magnesium or sodium catalyst.

Claim 34

The process of claim 18 wherein the polymerization is carried out at a temperature in the range of about 120° C. to about 180° C.

Claim 35

The process of claim 18 wherein the lactam monomer is ε-caprolactam.

Claim 36

The process of claim 25 wherein the lactam monomer is ε-caprolactam and Q is a residue of ε-caprolactam or 2-pyrrolidinone.

Claim 37

The process of claim 27 wherein the lactam monomer is ε-caprolactam.