Anaerobically curable compositions

1. An anaerobic curable composition, comprising:

(a) a (meth)acrylate component comprising a (meth)acrylate-functionalized poly(acrylate) having an average molecular weight in the range of 1,000 to 100,000 and a narrow molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) of 1.1 to 1.6;

(b) an anaerobic cure system; and

(c) a combination of copper salt and a sequestering agent.

2. The composition according to claim 1 , further comprising a mono-functional (meth)acrylate component represented by H 2 C═CGCO 2 R 1 , wherein G is a member selected from the group consisting of H, halogen and alkyl having from 1 to about four carbon atoms, and R 1 is a member selected from the group consisting of alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, alkaryl, and aryl groups having from 1 to about 16 carbon atoms, with or without substitution or interruption by a member selected from the group consisting of silane, silicon, oxygen, halogen, carbonyl, hydroxyl, ester, carboxylic acid, urea, urethane, carbamate, amine, amide, sulfur, sulfonate and sulfone.

3. The composition according to claim 1 , further comprising a (meth)acrylate component selected from the group consisting of silicone (meth)acrylates, polyethylene glycol di(meth)acrylates, bisphenol-A-(meth)acrylates, ethoxylated bisphenol-A-(meth)acrylates, bisphenol-F-(meth)acrylates, ethoxylated bisphenol-F-(meth)acrylates, tetrahydrofuran (meth)acrylates and di(meth)acrylates, hydroxypropyl (meth)acrylate, hexanediol di(meth)acrylate, and trimethylol propane tri(meth)acrylate.

4. The composition according to claim 1 , wherein the anaerobic cure system comprises one or more of the following: the combination of saccharin, toluidines, acetyl phenylhydrazine, maleic acid, and quinones;

B.

wherein R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen or C 1-4 ; Z is a carbon-carbon single bond or carbon-carbon double bond; m is 0 or 1; and n is an integer between 1 and 5;

C.

wherein Y is selected from the group consisting of an aromatic ring, optionally substituted at up to five positions by C 1-6 alkyl or alkoxy, or halo groups; A is C═O, S═O or O═S═O; X is NH, O or S and Z is an aromatic ring, optionally substituted at up to five positions by C 1-6 alkyl or alkoxy, or halo groups, or Y and Z taken together may join to the same aromatic ring or aromatic ring system, provided that when X is NH, o-benzoic sulfimide is excluded therefrom;

D.

wherein R is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, alkyl, alkenyl, hydroxyalkyl, hydroxyalkenyl, carboxyl, or sulfonato, and R 1 is as defined above and alkenyl, hydroxyalkyl, hydroxyalkenyl, or aralkyl;

E. trithiadiaza pentalenes embraced by the following structure:

wherein A and A 1 are each independently selected from the group consisting of O and N; and

R, R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are the same or different, are as defined above and cycloalkyl, cycloclkenyl, and aryl, having from 1 to about 30 carbon atoms, and may be substituted or interrupted with a heteroatom, and heterocyclic structures, or

R 1 and R 3 taken together may join to form a cyclic structure having from about 20 to about 28 ring atoms, and together represent dialkyl substituted polyether structures that may be substituted or interrupted with the trithiadiaza pentalene structure, which itself may or may not be substituted by A 1 , R 2 , or R 3 , as defined above; and

F. the combination of a triazine and a thiol.

5. The composition according to claim 1 , wherein the (meth)acrylate-functionalized poly(acrylate) is derived from a blend of at least 80% by weight of certain mono-functionalized (meth)acrylate monomers selected from alkyl, arylalkyl, hydroxy alkyl, and phenyl (meth)acrylates and 0-20% by weight of mono-functional, non-(meth)acrylate vinyl monomers selected from maleic anhydride, maleate, fumarate and vinyl esters, acrylonitrile, styrene, butadiene, vinylaziactone, N,N-dimethylacrylamide, N-vinylpyrrolidinone, acryloyl morpholine, N-vinylcaprolactam and N-vinylformate.

6. The composition according to claim 1 , wherein the (meth)acrylate-functionalized poly(acrylate) comprises the structural unit in its backbone:

-(A) x -(B) y -

wherein A represents one or more co-monomer units selected from the group consisting of non-functional alkyl or arylalkyl mono (meth)acrylates and B represents one or more co-monomer units selected from the group consisting of alkyl or arylalkyl mono-functionalized (meth)acrylates selected from alkoxyalkyl or aryloxyalkyl with or without substitution with groups containing the hetero atoms, O, S, N, P, or halogen, or non-(meth)acrylate vinyl monomers, wherein x and y represent the fraction of A and B, respectively, and x is at least 0.30 and at most 0.95 and y is at least 0.05 and at most 0.70.

7. The composition according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of a copper salt and a sequestering agent comprises a member selected from the group consisting of copper chlorides, copper bromides and copper iodides copper chlorides, copper bromides and copper iodides as the copper salt.

8. The composition according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of a copper salt and a sequestering agent comprises the tetrasodium salt of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid as the sequestering agent.

9. A composition comprising a bond formed between two mated substrates with the composition of claim 1 .

10. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the (meth)acrylate-functionalized poly(acrylate) contains at least two (meth)acrylate functional groups.

11. The composition of claim 1 , being a one-component, anaerobic curable composition.

12. The composition of claim 1 , being a gasket composition.

13. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the (meth)acrylate-functionalized poly(acrylate) has an average molecular weight of 5,000 to 50,000.

14. A process for preparing a gasket comprising the steps of:

providing an anaerobically curable composition according to claim 1 ;

applying the curable composition onto a substrate; and

exposing the composition to an anaerobic environment for a time sufficient to cure the composition;

wherein the cured composition has properties suitable for gasket applications.

15. The process for preparing a gasket of claim 14 , further comprising sealingly engaging a second substrate to the applied curable composition.

16. An anaerobically curable, gasket composition, comprising:

(a) a telechelic, (meth)acrylate-functionalized poly(acrylate) having an average molecular weight of 1,000 to 100,000;

(b) an anaerobic cure system; and

(c) a combination of copper salt and a sequestering agent.

17. The gasket composition of claim 16 , being a one-component composition.

18. The gasket composition of claim 16 , wherein the (meth)acrylate-functionalized poly(acrylate) has a narrow molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) of 1.1 to 1.6.

19. The gasket composition of claim 16 , wherein the (meth)acrylate-functionalized poly(acrylate) has an average molecular weight of 5 ,000 to 50,000.