COPOLYMERS BASED ON UNSATURATED MONO- OR DICARBOXYLIC ACID DERIVATIVES AND OXYALKYLENEGLYCOL-ALKENYL ETHERS, PROCESSES FOR THE PRODUCTION AND USE THEREOF

1 - 19 . (canceled)

20 . A copolymer based on unsaturated mono- or dicarboxylic acid derivatives and oxyalkyleneglycol-alkenyl ethers, comprising

a) from 25 to 98.99 mol % of a structural group of at least one of formula Ia, Ib or Ic

 wherein R 1 is hydrogen or an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical having from 1 to 20 C atoms;

X is —OM a , —O—(C m H 2m O) n —R 2 , or —NH—(C m H 2m O) n R 2 ;

M is hydrogen, a mono- or divalent metal cation, an ammonium ion, or an organic amine radical;

a is ½ or 1;

R 2 is hydrogen, an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical having from 1 to 20 C atoms, a cycloaliphatic hydrocarbon radical having from 5 to 8 C atoms, or an optionally substituted aryl radical having from 6 to 14 C atoms

Y is O or NR 2 ;

m is from 2 to 4; and

n is from 0 to 200;

b) from 1 to 48.9 mol % of the structural group of formula II

wherein

R 3 is hydrogen or an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical having from 1 to 5 C atoms;

m is 2;

m′ is 2 to 4

n′+n″ is from 250 to 500

p is from 0 to 3; and

R 2 and m are as defined above;

c) from 0.01 to 6 mol % of a structural group from formula IIIa or IIIb

wherein

Q is —H, —COOM a , or —COOR 5 ;

T is U 1 —(CH—CH 2 —O) x —(CH 2 —CH 2 —O) y —R 5 ;

CH 3

—(CH 2 ) z —V—(CH 2 ) z —CH═CH—R 2 ;

or —COOR 5 when Q is —COOR 5 or —COOM a ;

U 1 is —CO—NH—, —O—, or CH 2 O—;

U 2 is —NH—CO—, —O—, or —OCH 2 —;

V is —O—CO—C 6 H 4 —CO—O;

R 4 is H or CH 3

R 5 is an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical having from 3 to 20 C atoms, a cycloaliphatic hydrocarbon having from 5 to 8 C atoms, or an aryl radical having from 6 to 14 C atoms;

R 6 =R 2 or

z is from 0 to 4;

x is from 1 to 150; and

y is from 0 to 15,

d;

d) from 0 to 60 mol of structural groups of formula IVa or IVb

 wherein a, M, X and Y are as defined above.

21 . A copolymer according to claim 20 , wherein R′ is a methyl radical.

22 . A copolymer according to claim 20 , wherein M is a mono- or divalent metal cation selected from the group consisting of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

23 . A copolymer according to claim 20 , wherein R 2 is phenyl, the phenyl radical is further substituted by hydroxyl, carboxyl or sulphonic acid groups.

24 . A copolymer according to claim 20 , wherein n is from 1 to 150.

25 . A copolymer according to claim 20 , wherein p is 0 and m is 2.

26 . A copolymer according to claim 20 , comprising from 70 to 94.98 mol % of a structural group of at least one of formula Ia, Ib; or Ic, from 5 to 25 mol % of a structural group of formula II; from 0.02 to 2 mol % of at least one of the structural groups of formula IIIa or IIIb; and from 0 to 24.98 mol % of a structural group of at least one of formula IVa or IVb.

27 . A copolymer according to claim 20 , further comprising up to 50 mol % based on the total of the structural groups of formulae I, II, III and IV, of a vinyl monomer or (meth)acrylic acid derivative.

28 . A copolymer according to claim 27 , wherein said monomer is at least one member selected from the group consisting of styrene, α-methlystyrene, vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, ethylene, propylene, isobuteane, N-vinylpyrrolidone, allylsulphonic acid, methallylsulphonic acid, vinyl sulphonic acid and vinyl phosphonic acid.

29 . A copolymer according to claim 28 , wherein said monomer is selected from the group consisting of hydroxyalkyl(meth)acrylate, acrylamide, methacrylamide, AMPS, methylmethacylate, methylacrylate, butylacrylate and cyclohexylacrylate.

30 . A copolymer according to claim 20 having an average molecular weight of from 1,000 to 100,000 g/mol.

31 . A process for the production of a copolymer according to claim 20 comprising polymerizing from 25 to 98.99 mol % of an unsaturated mono- or diocarboxylic acid derivative; from 1 to 48.9 mol % of an oxyalkyleneglycol alkenylether; 0.01 to 6 mol % of a vinyl polyalkyleneglycol compound or ester compound and from 0 to 60 mol % of a dicarboxylic acid derivative using a radical initiator to form the copolymer.

32 . A process according to claim 31 , comprising polymerizing from 70 to 94.88 mol % of said unsaturated mono- or diocarboxylic acid derivative, from 5 to 25 mol % of said oxyalkyleneglycol alkenylether, from 0.02 to 2 mol % of said vinyl polyalkyleneglycol compound or ester compound and from 0 to 24.98 mol % of said dicarbocyclic acid derivative.

33 . A process according to claim 31 wherein up to 50 mol % based on the monomers with the structural groups according to the formulae I, II, III and IV, of a vinyl- or (meth)acrylic acid derivative are also copolymerized.

34 . A process according to claim 31 , wherein the polymerization is carried out in aqueous solution at a temperature of from 20 to 100° C.

35 . A process according to claim 34 wherein the concentration of said aqueous solution is from 30 to 50% by weight.

36 . A process according to claim 31 , wherein the polymerization is carried out without solvent using a radical initiator at a temperature of from 20 to 150° C.

37 . An aqueous suspension comprising the copolymer of claim 20 and water.

38 . The aqueous suspension of claim 37 , wherein said copolymer is present in an amount of from 0.01 to 10% by weight.

39 . A copolymer according to claim 20 , wherein in formula II m′ is 2.

40 . A method of improving early strength of development of an aqueous concrete suspension comprising adding a sufficient amount the copolymer of claim 20 to the aqueous concrete suspension to improve the early strength of development of the aqueous concrete suspension.

41 . The method of claim 40 , wherein said strength is compressive strength.

42 . The method of claim 40 , wherein the suspension comprises Portland cement.

43 . The method of claim 42 , wherein said strength is compressive strength.

44 . The method of claim 43 , wherein the compressive strength is increased at 6 and 8 hours after formation of said aqueous mixture.

45 . The method of claim 40 , wherein R 1 is a methyl radical.

46 . The method of claim 40 , wherein M is a mono- or divalent metal cation selected from the group consisting of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

47 . The method of claim 40 , wherein R 2 is phenyl, the phenyl radical is further substituted by hydroxyl, carboxyl or sulphonic acid groups.

48 . The method of claim 40 , wherein n is from 1 to 150.

49 . The method of claim 40 , wherein p is 0 and m is 2.

50 . The method of claim 40 , wherein the copolymer comprises from 70 to 94.98 mol % of a structural group of at least one of formula Ia, Ib; or Ic, from 5 to 25 mol % of a structural group of formula II; from 0.02 to 2 mol % of at least one of the structural groups of formula IIIa or IIIb; and from 0 to 24.98 mol % of a structural group of at least one of formula IVa or IVb.

51 . The method of claim 40 , wherein the copolymer comprises up to 50 mol % based on the total of the structural groups of formulae I, II, III and IV, of a vinyl monomer or (meth)acrylic acid derivative.

52 . The method of claim 51 , wherein said monomer is at least one member selected from the group consisting of styrene, α-methlystyrene, vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, ethylene, propylene, isobutane, N-vinylpyrrolidone, allylsulphonic acid, methallylsulphonic acid, vinyl sulphonic acid and vinyl phosphonic acid.

53 . The method of claim 52 , wherein said monomer is selected from the group consisting of hydroxyalkyl(meth)acrylate, acrylamide, methacrylamide, AMPS, methylmethacrylate, methylacrylate, butylacrylate and cyclohexylacrylate.

54 . The method of claim 40 , wherein the copolymer has an average molecular weight of from 1,000 to 100,000 g/mol.

55 . A method of improving early strength of development of an aqueous suspension of a mineral or bituminous binder comprising adding to an aqueous suspension of the mineral or bituminous binder a sufficient amount the copolymer of claim 20 to improve the early strength of development.

56 . The method of claim 55 , wherein said strength is compressive strength.

57 . The method of claim 56 , wherein the suspension comprises Portland cement.

58 . The method of claim 56 , wherein said strength is compressive strength.

59 . The method of claim 58 , wherein the compressive strength is increased at 6 and 8 hours after formation of said aqueous mixture.