Novel biologically derived tartaric acid plasticizer: Synthesis and application

Phthalate plasticizers were typical petroleum-based plasticizers whose application was affected by their negative tendency to be transformed into more risky metabolites such as phthalic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (MEHP), which might not be conducive to sustainable development and human health. Therefore, the development of green bio-based plasticizers was an urgent need. Here, a new class of green bio-based plasticizer 2,3-diacetyl tartrate dialkyl esters (DATAE-C n ) was synthesized by using renewable tartaric acid (TA) as the main raw material, and its structure was characterized by FTIR and 1 H NMR. The plasticizing properties of different plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) films were investigated, compared with commercial plasticizers (DEHP and ATBC). The results indicated that PVC films plasticized with the DATAE-C n displayed apparently increased thermal stability, plasticizing effect, toughness and migration stability. The addition of DATAE-C n minimized the T g value of PVC from 88.5 to 38.5°C suggesting that the plasticizer had obvious plasticizing effect on PVC. Moreover, when DATAE-C n completely replaced the usage of DEHP on PVC, its initial decomposition temperature ( T i ) was increased by up to about 34°C. In particular, PVC/DATAE-C n exhibited prominent migration resistance in different solvent environments, which was received by solubility parameters analysis, leaching and volatilization tests. These results indicated that green bio-based plasticizer DATAE-C n had potential to replace phthalate plasticizers.