• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.427-434
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• 2005

To improve the performance and reduce raw material costs, blocked isocyanates were prepared with mixture of blocking agents in many industries. Three blocked isocyanates (adducts) namely $\varepsilon$-caprolactam/benzotriazole-blocked 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI) and 4,4'-dicyclohexyl-methane diisocyanate ($H_{12}$MDI) were synthesized. Six reference adducts were also prepared by blocking MDI, TDI, and $H_{12}$MDI with $\varepsilon$-caprolactam ($\varepsilon$-CL) or benzotriazole. The reactions were carried out in acetone medium and dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL) was used as a catalyst. The progress of the blocking reaction was monitored by IR spectroscopy. De-blocking temperatures (dissociation temperatures) of these adducts were studied using DSC and TGA and the results were correlated. As expected, the thermal analysis data showed that de-blocking temperature of blocked aromatic isocyanates was lower than that of the blocked aliphatic isocyanates. The low de-blocking temperature of blocked aromatic isocyanate could be due to electron withdrawing benzene ring present in the blocked isocyanates. It was also found that benzotriazole-blocked adducts de-blocked at higher temperature compared with $\varepsilon$-CL-blocked adducts.