Effect of isocyanate structure on deblocking and cure reaction of N-methylaniline-blocked diisocyanates and polyisocyanates

Two series of N-methylaniline-blocked isocyanates based on monomeric diisocyanates such as 4,4′-methylene bis(phenyl isocyanate), toluene-2,4-diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate and 1,6-diisocyanato hexane and their NCO terminated polyurethane prepolymer (polyisocyanates) were prepared and characterized thoroughly by FTIR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and EI-Mass spectroscopic methods. The blocking reaction of N-methylaniline with aromatic isocyanates and aromatic polyisocyanates occur faster when compared to the aliphatic isocyanates. The deblocking reactions of blocked isocyanates were carried out under dynamic and isothermal conditions using hot-stage FTIR spectrophotometer. The dynamic method was used to determine the deblocking temperature, and the isothermal method was used to calculate kinetics and thermodynamics parameters. Cure reactions of blocked isocyanates with hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene were also followed to establish the structure-property relationship of the N-methylaniline-blocked isocyanates. The deblocking studies of blocked isocyanates reveal that the aromatic isocyanates undergo deblocking easily compared to aliphatic isocyanates. The rate of deblocking reaction of N-methylaniline-blocked aromatic polyisocyanates was found to be higher compared to N-methylaniline-blocked aromatic monomeric diisocyanate adducts. On the other hand, this trend was just reverse in the cure-reaction studies. The dissolution behavior of N-methylaniline-blocked isocyanates in Terathane-2000, polypropylene glycol-2000, polycaprolactone diol-2000 and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene-2500 was also studied and found that all adducts are soluble in these polyols.