Plasticizers made from oil extracted from microorganisms and polar polymeric compositions comprising the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9228155-B2
Application number	US-201113812306-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 28, 2011
Priority date	Jul 28, 2010
Publication date	Jan 5, 2016
Grant date	Jan 5, 2016

Abstract

Plasticizers are made from oil with a narrowed, fatty acid polydispersity and extracted from a microorganism, such as a natural or genetically modified bacterium or algae. These plasticizers can comprise either a large content of either saturated C4 and/or C6 triglycerides or unsaturated C12 or greater triglycerides that have been chemically modified by one or more of epoxidation, acylation and esterification. The plasticizers of this invention are particularly well-suited for use with polar polymeric resins such as PVC.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process for making a plasticizer, consisting essentially of:
extracting an epoxidized oil from a genetically modified algae, wherein the algae is genetically modified to produce the epoxidized oil, the extracted oil (a) having less than 5 wt % saturated fatty acids and less than 5 wt % fatty acids with 20 or more carbon atoms, (b) comprising triglycerides with unsaturated fatty acids having at least two double bonds, and (c) designed with a balance of hydrophobicity and polarity, and
converting the extracted oil to the plasticizer without subjecting the extracted oil to epoxidation,
the plasticizer having
a solubility in PVC of greater than 40 parts per hundred resin (phr) at 90° C. resulting from the balance of hydrophobicity and polarity, and
at least one of:
(i) liquidity at ambient temperature (23° C.),
(ii) a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 250 or greater, and
(iii) an iodine number of 10 or less.

2. The process of claim 1 in which the oil consists essentially of saturated C 4 and/or C 6 triglycerides.

3. The process of claim 1 in which converting the extracted oil to the plasticizer comprises a purifying process.

4. The process of claim 1 in which the extracted oil comprises unsaturated C 12 or greater triglycerides, and
converting the extracted oil to the plasticizer comprises chemically modifying the unsaturated C 12 or greater triglycerides such that the plasticizer has at least two of the properties (i)-(iii).

5. The process of claim 4 in which chemically modifying the unsaturated C 12 or greater triglycerides comprises at least one of acylation and transesterification.

6. The process of claim 5 in which the triglycerides are converted to esters of fatty acids by transesterification with one or more alcohols.

7. The process of claim 1 in which the triglycerides with unsaturated fatty acids having at least two double bonds are C 16 to C 20 triglycerides.

Assignees

• Maurer Brian R
• Eaton Robert F
• Zinkweg Dirk B
• Han Suh Joon
• Dow Global Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Maurer Brian R
• Eaton Robert F
• Zinkweg Dirk B
• Han Suh Joon

Classifications

• C08K5/103

  with polyalcohols · CPC title

• C07C69/80

  Phthalic acid esters · CPC title

• C08K5/04 Primary

  Oxygen-containing compounds {(C08K5/0091 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• C08K5/1515

  Three-membered rings · CPC title

• C11B3/00

  Refining fats or fatty oils · CPC title