| abstract |
Disclosed are methods of producing high molecular weight, soluble, crosslinked polyaspartates from crosslinked polysuccinimide. In one preferred method aspect, polysuccinimide is first reacted with an organic crosslinking agent, preferably an organic base containing at least two primary amine groups to form a crosslinked polysuccinimide. The crosslinked polysuccinimide is then hydrolyzed to crosslinked polyaspartate which is soluble in polar solvents, preferably water, alcohol and mixtures thereof. Alternative method aspects are disclosed in which soluble crosslinked polyaspartates are produced in a single reaction vessel by sequentially crosslinking polysuccinimide with the organic crosslinking agent in an aqueous reaction mixture and hydrolyzing the product to crosslinked polyaspartate. |