Process of making press molded materials using heat activated tertiary amine urethane catalysts

1 . A process for the manufacture of a press molded material, comprising:

applying diisocyanate, polyol, and catalyst to a wood material, wherein the catalyst is a tertiary amine-carboxylic acid salt that is blocked at room temperature and becomes unblocked at an elevated temperature, and

heating the resulting mixture to a temperature effective to unblock the salt to produce unblocked tertiary amine.

2 . The process of claim 1 wherein the tertiary amine is N,N-dimethylcyclohexylamine, pentamethyldiethlenetriamine, N,N-dimethyl-2(2-aminoethyoxy)ethanol, pentamehyldipropylenetriamine, tetramethyldipropylenetriamine, dimethylaminoethoxyethanol, N,N,N′-trimethylaminoethyl-ethanolamine, 2-(dimethylamino)-ethanol, or a combination thereof.

3 . The process of claim 1 wherein the tertiary amine is dimethylaminoethoxyethanol, N,N,N′-trimethylaminoethyl-ethanolamine, 2-(dimethylamino)-ethanol, or a combination thereof

4 . The process of claim 1 wherein the carboxylic acid contains less than 30 carbons.

5 . The process of claim 1 wherein the carboxylic acid is oxalic acid, salicylic acid, or a combination thereof.

6 . The process of claim 1 wherein amine is N,N-dimethyl-2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethanol, the carboxylic acid is oxalic acid, and are present in a mole ratio of about 1:1.

7 . The process of claim 1 wherein the mole ratio of tertiary amine to carboxylic acid is less than 2:1.

8 . The process of claim 1 wherein the mole ratio of tertiary amine to carboxylic acid is less than about 1.5.

9 . The process of claim 1 wherein the mole ratio of tertiary amine to carboxylic acid from about 0.9:1 to about 1.1.

10 . The process of claim 1 wherein the acid salt produces a carbonyl absorbance of at 1730-1680 cm −1 of at least 0.5 above 135° C.

11 . The process of claim 1 wherein the diisocyanate is an aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, aromatic, heterocyclic diisocyanate, or combination thereof.

12 . The process of claim 1 wherein the diisocyanate is naphthalene bis (4-phenyl isocyanate), 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, 1,3- and 1,4-phenylene diisocyanate, toluene 2,4- and 2,6-diisocyanate, diphenylmethane 2,4′- or 4,4′-diisocyanate, mixtures thereof or oligomers thereof or mixtures of oligomers.

13 . The process of claim 1 wherein the polyol has two to eight hydroxyl groups.

14 . The process of claim 1 wherein the diisocyanate and polyol are employed so as to provide a NCO/OH ratio of from 1.1:1 to 10:1.

15 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the applying is performed by spraying.

16 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the mixture is heated under pressure.

17 . The process of claim 16 , wherein the pressure is up to 3 atmospheres.

18 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the heating occurs at a temperature up to about 180 degrees Centigrade.

19 . The process of claim 1 wherein the process produces an orientated strand board.

20 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst is added as a dispersion in a carrier liquid.

21 . The process of claim 20 , wherein the carrier liquid is water, soy oil, or a combination thereof.

22 . The process of claim 21 , wherein about 1 part of catalyst is present per 99 parts of the diisocyanate and polyol.

23 . The process of claim 1 , wherein mixture contains 1 to 15 percent by weight of the diisocyanate, polyol, and catalyst.

24 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the heating occurs at a temperature of at least 110° C.

25 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the heating occurs at a temperature of at least 125° C.

26 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the heating occurs at a temperature of at least 135 degrees Centigrade.

27 . A product made by the process of claim 1 .

28 . A composite formed of wood chips and the polymerization product of a urethane composition and a tertiary amine-carboxylic acid salt that unblocks at a temperature of at least 135° C.