Kinetic features of the reaction of polyvinyl alcohol with epichlorohydrin in an alkaline medium

The kinetics of the reaction of polyvinyl alcohol with epichlorohydrin in an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution has been studied. The process rate has been shown to be diffusion-limited. Size exclusion chromatography data have revealed that polyvinyl alcohol chain branching proceeds slower than the nucleophilic substitution of the hydroxyl groups of polyvinyl alcohol with introduction of glycidyl groups.