Poly(vinyl alcohol) composition comprising a polyol

1. A composition comprising or produced from a polyol ester plasticizer and poly(vinyl alcohol) wherein

the poly(vinyl alcohol) comprises poly(vinyl alcohol-co-methyl methacrylate), poly(vinyl alcohol-co-methyl acrylate), or combinations thereof and has at least about 80% hydrolysis;

the polyol ester plasticizer comprises an esterified polyol having one or more ester groups and at least one free hydroxyl group and is present in the composition in an amount sufficient to transesterify and increase the ester content of the poly(vinyl alcohol); and

the polyol ester is derived from one or more polyols and one or more C 1-5 alkanoic acids and the C 1-5 alkanoic acid optionally comprises a functional group including hydroxy, trialkylamino, ether, or combinations of two or more thereof.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein about 0.1% to about 10% of the poly(vinyl alcohol) is transesterified.

3. The composition of claim 1 wherein the polyol ester plasticizer is derived from polyols and acids and the polyol comprises ethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, isomer of propane diol, isomer of butane diol, isomer of pentane diol, isomer of hexane diol, glycerol, trimethylolpropane, isomer of butane triol, isomer of pentane triol, or isomer of hexane triol, erythritol, neopentyl glycol, pentaerythritol, maltitol, sorbitol, xylitol, diglycerol, triglycerol, tetraglycerol, pentaglycerol, or combinations of two or more thereof.

4. The composition of claim 3 wherein the polyol ester plasticizer comprises ethylene glycol monoacetate, ethylene glycol monobutyrate, glycerol acetate, glycerol diacetate, glycerol monopropionate, glycerol dipropionate, glycerol monolactate, glycerol dilactate, trimethylolpropane acetate, trimethylolpropane diacetate, trimethylolpropane lactate, trimethylolpropane dilactate, sorbitol acetate, sorbitol diacetate, sorbitol triacetate, sorbitol tetraacetate, sorbitol monolactate, sorbitol dilactate, sorbitol monoacetate monopropionate, or combinations of two or more thereof.

5. The composition of claim 1 wherein the polyol ester plasticizer is an acetate ester of glycerol.

6. The composition of claim 1 wherein the polyol ester plasticizer is glycerol monoacetate, glycerol diacetate, or combinations thereof and the polyol optionally comprises acetylation.

7. The composition of claim 1 wherein the poly(vinyl alcohol) has at least about 70% hydrolysis and the composition has less than 3 weight % water content.

8. The composition of claim 1 wherein the poly(vinyl alcohol) has 99.4-99.8% hydrolysis and the poly(vinyl alcohol) in the composition has reduced hydrolysis as compared to poly(vinyl alcohol) used for producing the composition.

9. The composition of claim 1 wherein the methacrylate or acrylate is present in the poly(vinyl alcohol) in the range of about 2% to about 10% or about 2% to about 6%, based on mole %.

10. The composition of claim 1 wherein about 0.5 to about 5% of the poly(vinyl alcohol) is transesterified and the composition contains less than 3 weight % water.

11. The composition of claim 1 further comprising an additional polymer comprising an ethylene polymer, a polyvinyl butyral copolymer, or combinations thereof wherein the ethylene polymer comprises polyethylene, an ethylene copolymer, or combinations thereof; the ethylene copolymer comprises repeat units derived from ethylene and alkyl (meth)acrylate, vinyl acetate, vinyl alcohol, carbon monoxide, or combinations of two or more thereof; and the alkyl group in the alkyl (meth)acrylate has about 1 to about 12 carbon atoms per group.