Thermal Properties of Esters/Ethers Derived from Tartaric Acid

摘要

Tartaric acid is available annually as a by-product of wine production. It is tetrafunctional whichprovides a wide variety of reactivity suitable for its conversion to useful materials. The carboxylfunctionality may be readily converted to esters of various size/structure. Ethers of varied structure maythen be generated from the hydoxyl groups remaining. The compounds generated in this manner shouldserve as plasticizers for a variety of polymeric materials. These may be suitable replacements forphthalates which present potential health problems. The thermal stability of several of these has beenexamined using thermogravimetry.