Carbodiimides having terminal urea and/or urethane groups, methods for producing said carbodiimides, and use of said carbodiimides

1. Carbodiimides having terminal urea and/or urethane groups, the carbodiimides being of the formula (I)

in which each R may be the same or different and is selected from the group of —NHCONHR I , —NHCONR I R II and —NHCOOR III residues, where R I and R II are the same or different and are a C 1 -C 22 -alkyl, C 6 -C 12 -cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 18 -aryl or C 6 -C 18 -aralkyl residue, and R III corresponds to C 1 -C 22 -alkyl, C 6 -C 12 -cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 18 -aryl or C 6 -C 18 -aralkyl, or an unsaturated alkyl residue having 2-22 carbon atoms, or an alkoxypolyoxyalkylene residue,

R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are each independently methyl or ethyl, wherein each benzene ring has only one methyl group, and

n=0 to 20.

2. The carbodiimides according to claim 1 , wherein each R is an —NHCOOR III residue, where R III is an alkoxypolyoxyalkylene or an unsaturated alkyl residue having 18 carbon atoms.

3. The carbodiimides according to claim 1 , wherein each R is an —NHCOOR III residue, where R III is a C 1 -C 22 -alkyl, or C 6 -C 12 -cycloalkyl.

4. The carbodiimides according to claim 1 , wherein each R is an —NHCOOR III residue, where R III is a polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether with molar masses of 200-600 g/mol.

5. The carbodiimides according to claim 2 , wherein the carbodiimide has an NCN content of 2-14% by weight.

6. The carbodiimides according to claim 3 , wherein the carbodiimide has an NCN content of 2-14% by weight.

7. The carbodiimides according to claim 1 , wherein the carbodiimides have:

average molar masses (Mw) of 1000-5000 g/mol, and

a polydispersity D=Mw/Mn of 1.2-2.

8. The carbodiimides according to claim 1 , wherein:

each R is an —NHCOOR III residue;

n=1 to 10; and

the carbodiimides have an NCN content of 2-14% by weight, average molar masses (Mw) of 2000-3000 g/mol, and a polydispersity D=Mw/Mn of 1.4-1.8.

9. A method for preparing the carbodiimides according to claim 1 , the method comprising:

carbodiimidizing diisocyanates of at least one of the formula

 and of the formula

with elimination of carbon dioxide at temperatures of 80° C. to 200° C. in the presence of catalysts and optionally solvent, and

subsequently, terminally functionalizing the free NCO functionalities with primary or secondary amines or alcohols.

10. A method for preparing the carbodiimides according to claim 1 , the method comprising:

at least partially, terminally functionalizing free NCO groups in aromatic diisocyanates of at least one of the formula (II)

 and of the formula (III)

 with primary or secondary amines or alcohols, and/or alkoxypolyoxyalkylene alcohols to produce an intermediary, and

subsequently, carbodiimidizing the intermediary with elimination of carbon dioxide at temperatures of 80° C. to 200° C. in the presence of catalysts and optionally solvent.

11. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the carbodiimidization is carried out at temperatures of 80-200° C., and subsequently, optionally after distilling off the catalyst at temperatures of 50-120° C. and the unreacted diisocyanate at temperatures of 160-180° C., reacting the remaining NCO groups of the carbodiimide with aliphatic and/or aromatic amines, alcohols and/or alkoxypolyoxyalkylene alcohols, at temperatures of 80-140° C., optionally in the presence of a PU catalyst.

12. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the carbodiimidization is carried out at temperatures of 80-200° C., and subsequently the temperature of the reaction mixture is reduced to 50-120° C., to interrupt the carbodiimidization and, after optional addition of a solvent, reacting the free terminal isocyanate groups of the carbodiimides with aliphatic and/or aromatic amines, alcohols and/or alkoxypolyoxyalkylene alcohols.

13. The method for preparing carbodiimides according to claim 9 , wherein the method comprises carbodiimidizing a mixture of diisocyanates of the formula (II) and (III) in a ratio of 70:30 to 90:10.

14. The method for preparing the carbodiimides according to claim 9 , wherein:

each R is an —NHCOOR III residue, where R III is a C 1 -C 22 -alkyl, or C 6 -C 12 -cycloalkyl; and

the method further comprises pelletizing the carbodiimides after the carbodiimidization.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein R III =cyclohexyl.

16. A composition comprising:

at least one ester-based polymer; and

at one carbodiimide according to claim 1 .

17. The composition according to claim 16 , wherein the composition comprises 0.1-5% by weight of the carbodiimide.

18. A method for preparing the compositions according to claim 16 , wherein:

R III =cyclohexyl, and the ester-based polymers are selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), copolyesters, thermoplastic polyester elastomers (TPE E), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PRAT), polybutylene succinates (PBS), PLA derivatives and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), and

the method comprises adding the carbodiimides by means of a solids metering unit to the ester-based polymers.

19. A method for protecting against hydrolytic degradation in polymers, the method comprising incorporating the carbodiimides according to claim 1 in ester-based polyols, in polyethylene terephthalate (PET), in polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), in polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), in copolyesters, in thermoplastic polyester elastomers (TPE E), in ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), in polylactic acid (PLA) and/or in PLA derivatives, in polybutylene adipate terephthalates (PBAT), in polybutylene succinates (PBS), in polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), in blends, in triglycerides, in oil formulations for the lubricants industry, in thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), in polyurethane elastomers, in PU adhesives, in PU casting resins, in PU foams, or in PU coatings for wood, leather, artificial leather and textiles.

20. A method for protecting against hydrolytic degradation in polylactic acid, the method comprising incorporating the carbodiimides according to claim 1 in polylactic acid (PLA).

21. The composition according to claim 16 , wherein:

the at least one ester-based polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyester polyols, ester-based thermoplastic polyurethanes, polyurethane elastomers, PU adhesives, PU casting resins, polyethylene terephthalates (PET), polybutylene terephthalates (PBT), polytrimethylene terephthalates copolyesters, thermoplastic polyester elastomers (TPE E), ethylene vinyl acetates (EVA), polylactic acids (PLA), polybutylene adipate terephthalates (PBAT), polybutylene succinates (PBS), PLA derivatives and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA); and

the composition comprises 1-2% by weight of the carbodiimides.