Polymer useful as viscosity index improver
View Patent ↗The present invention describes a polymer useful as viscosity index improver comprising units derived from one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (I), where R is hydrogen or methyl, R 1 means a linear, branched or cyclic alkyl residue with 1-6 carbon atoms, R 2 and R 3 independently represent hydrogen or a group of the formula —COOR′, where R′ means hydrogen or a alkyl group with 1-6 carbon atoms, units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II), where R is hydrogen or methyl, R 4 means a 2-alkyl branched alkyl residue with 12-18 carbon atoms, R 5 and R 6 independently are hydrogen or a group of the formula —COOR″, where R″ means hydrogen or an alkyl group with 12-18 carbon atoms, and units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (III), where R is hydrogen or methyl, R 7 means a linear alkyl residue with 12-24 carbon atoms, R 8 and R 9 independently are hydrogen or a group of the formula —COOR″, where R″ means hydrogen or an alkyl group with 12-24 carbon atoms wherein said polymer comprises at least 10% by weight units derived from one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (I), based on the total weight of the polymer, said polymer comprises at least 10% by weight units derived from one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II), based on the total weight of the polymer, and said polymer comprises at least 10% by weight units derived from one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (III), based on the total weight of the polymer.
1. A polymer, comprising:
at least 10% by weight, based on a total weight of the polymer, of units derived from one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (I):
from 20 to 55% by weight, based on the total weight of the polymer, of units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II):
and
from 20 to 40% by weight, based on the total weight of the polymer, of units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (III):
wherein R is hydrogen or methyl,
R 1 is a linear, branched, or cyclic alkyl residue with from I to 6 ca bon atoms,
R 2 and R 3 are hydrogen,
R 4 is a 2-alkyl branched alkyl residue with from 12 to 18 carbon atoms,
R 5 and R 6 are hydrogen,
R 7 is a linear alkyl residue with from 12 to 24 carbon atoms,
R 8 and R 9 are hydrogen,
wherein
units derived from ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II)are a mixture, and
the mixture comprises as R 4 :
units having a 2-methyl branched alkyl residue, and
units having a 2-ethyl branched alkyl residue, and/or
units having a 2-propvl branched alkyl residue, and
units having a 2-butvl or hiaher branched alkyl residue,
a weight ratio of total units of the one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II) to total units of the one or mor e ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (III) is from 4:1 to 1:1 and
the polymer is suitable as a viscosity index improver.
2. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein polymer comprises from 25 to 45% by weight of units derived from one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (I) based on the total weight of the polymer.
3. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the polymer comprises from 25 to 45% by weight of units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II) based on the total weight of the polymer.
4. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the polymer comprises from 25 to 35% by weight of units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (III) based on the total weight of the polymer.
5. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the polymer has a weight average molecular weight of from 5,000 to 2,000,000 g/mol.
6. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II) comprises units having a 2-methyl branched alkyl residue as residue R 4 and units having a 2-ethyl branched alkyl residue as residue R 4 .
7. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II) comprises units having a 2-propyl branched alkyl residue as residue R 4 and units having a 2-butyl or higher branched alkyl residue as residue R 4 .
8. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II) comprise at least 10% by weight of units having a 2-methyl branched alkyl residue as residue R 4 based on the units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II).
9. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II) comprise at least 10% by weight of units having a 2-ethyl branched alkyl residue as residue R 4 based on the units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II).
10. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II) comprise at least 10% by weight of units having a 2-propyl branched alkyl residue as residue R 4 based on the units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II).
11. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II) comprise at least 10% by weight of units having a 2-butyl or higher branched alkyl residue as residue R 4 based on the units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II).
12. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II) comprise at least 50% by weight of units having residues R 4 with from 12 to 16 carbon atoms based on the units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (II).
13. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the polymer further comprises from 0.1 to 50% by weight of units derived from comonomers.
14. The polymer of claim 1 , further comprising:
a unit derived from an ethylenically unsaturated ester compound not of formula (I), (II), or (III).
15. The polymer of claim 14 , wherein the unit derived from an ethylenically unsaturated ester compound not of formula (I), (II) or (III) is of formula (IV):
wherein R is hydrogen or methyl,
R 10 is a linear, branched, or cyclic alkyl residue with from 7 to 11 carbon atoms, and
R 11 and R 12 are hydrogen.
16. The polymer of claim 15 , wherein the polymer comprises from greater than 0 to 20% by weight of units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (IV) based on the total weight of the polymer.
17. The polymer of claim 14 , wherein the unit derived from an ethylenically unsaturated ester compound not of formula (I), (II) or (III) is of formula (V):
wherein R is hydrogen or methyl,
R 13 is a 3-branched alkyl residue with from 12 to 18 carbon atoms, and
R 14 and R 15 are hydrogen.
18. The polymer of claim 17 , wherein the polymer comprises from greater than 0 to 20% by weight of units of one or more ethylenically unsaturated ester compounds of formula (V) based on the total weight of the polymer.
19. A lubricant composition comprising the polymer of claim 1 .
20. The lubricant composition of claim 19 , wherein a content of the poly er in the lubricant is from 0.5 to 40% by weight.
21. The lubricant composition of claim 19 , wherein a base fluid content in the lubricant is at least 60% by weight.
22. A method of providing an automatic transmission fluid to an automatic transmission, comprising:
providing the lubricant composition of claim 19 as an automatic transmission fluid (ATF).
23. A method of improving a viscosity index of a lubricant oil, comprising adding the polymer of claim 1 to the lubricant oil in need thereof.