Branched Vinyl Ester Monomers for Hydrophobic Emulsion Polymers

Abstract

In the 1950s, Dr. Herbert Koch, from the Max Plank Institute in Mülheim, Germany, found that olefins may react with carbon monoxide and water under the influence of strong acids to form tertiary branched neocarboxylic acids (Figure 1). Before the intermediate carbocation reacts with carbon monoxide, isomerization reactions are observed and, therefore, the resulting acid is composed of a number of isomers.1,2