Monomer-grafted sucrose ester resins

Styrenated sucrose esters of soybean fatty acids were successfully synthesized and the coatings properties were found to be comparable to a commercial styrenated alkyd while having lower volatile organic content at comparable solids content. A series of reactions were performed which varied the percent styrene incorporated into the resin. The dry time was significantly reduced as the styrene content increased which was a result of having more hard polystyrene chain segments. Tack-free times of ≈30 min were observed for resins containing high amounts of polystyrene. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy indicated residual bisallylic hydrogens were present which are capable of further crosslinking through autoxidation after film application. The addition of cobalt and zinc driers reduced the drying time which indicates that autoxidation is occurring. Furthermore, the styrenation reaction was extended to make water-reducible resins. These resins were crosslinked with a melamine–formaldehyde resin resulting in biobased thermosets having high solvent resistance, high hardness while retaining good flexibility.