the present invention is aimed at a series of novel glycerin polyesters that provide desired aesthetics and structure in cosmetic formulation . these glycerin polymers are synthesized by polycondensation polymerization , in the presence of a monofunctional monomer or terminal group . by carefully choosing the groups the properties can be dramatically altered . the mono - functional alcohols , being only able to react in one position , can only be located on the polymer chain ends . this provides very unique polymer structure and morphology . these regiospecific polyesters will have very unique physical properties and have a wide variety of solubilities . furthermore , by the incorporation of a co - monomer will produce a copolymer with drastically different solubilities and aesthetics . it has been discovered that not only the polymer make up , i . e . the monomers that make up the polymer backbone , but also the polymer design can be controlled and used as an efficient tool in tuning the ascetics and performance of a polymer . the polymers of the current invention are synthesized by a step growth polymerization , specifically a polycondensation polymerization . a simple example of a polycondensation polymerization is shown below : in this simple example , the polymerization is the reaction between a di - acid and a di - alcohol . the polymerization is an equilibrium reaction that gives off water as a byproduct . the polymerization proceeds to high molecular weight by the removal of water as steam . it is common practice in polymer chemistry to actively control the molecular weight of the polymer by controllable techniques . one of these techniques is the use of mono - functional monomers during the polymerization process . mono - functional monomers or so - called “ chain terminators ”, will react during the polymerization process like every other monomer . the major difference between a mono - functional monomer and a multifunctional monomer is that unlike a typical multifunctional monomer , a mono - functional monomer has only one reactive group . the moment that the mono - functional monomer reacts onto the polymer backbone the polymer chain loses the ability to continue to grow because it has no more react - able functional groups . the chain terminator reaction is as follows : chain terminators get their names because once they react , the polymerization stops so they are always on the end of the polymer chain . we have found that by the use of mono - functional monomers can be used to design a polymer that is regiospecific , ( also refereed to as regio - specific substitution ( rss )). regiospecific refers to a polymer that has regions of different pendant groups . a polymer can be synthesized that has two or more regions by utilizing mono - functional monomers . the polymer chain ends are controlled by the use of mono - functional monomers , while the internal pendant groups can be reacted onto the polymer backbone by the use of a different fatty acid . the regions of the polymer are shown below : as shown above , the polymer &# 39 ; s pendant groups can be controllably placed into two different regions . these regions will then allow the polymer to act like a block copolymer . regio - specific polymers will have drastically different properties , i . e . different melt point , crystallinity , and solubility than the same polymer made in a random approach . this regiospecific polymer is obtained by the multi - step polymerization approach . in the first step a try functional alcohol is reacted with a di - acid and a mono - functional acid as shown below : as seen above , the polymerization occurs as a typical polycondensation polymerization . the polymerization will proceed until one of the monomers is completely consumed . once the polymerization has reached a desired chain length , the polymerization can be terminated by the addition of a “ chain terminator ”. chain terminators are monofunctional monomers that will react onto the polymer chain end and prevent the polymer from growing . the chain terminator reaction is shown below . as seen above , once the chain terminators react with the growing polymer chain , the chain loses the ability to continue to react . this new technique provides a way to selectively add end groups onto the polymer chain ends , and different internal groups , crosslinked with a linear di functional silicone . since the chain terminators are held until the end of the polymerization , they are protected from trans - esterfication reaction with other alcohols involved in the polymerization process . the polymer produced is designed specifically to maximize the performance of the polymers . these polymers are classified as high definition polymers . the term “ high definition polymers ” refers to a class of polymers that have specific structures that affect the polymer performance . a glycerin polyester of the current invention that has both a solid and liquid pendant and terminal groups and will produce a high definition polymer that has structured liquid and solid domains . b is an integer ranging from 1 to 10 ; with the proviso a + b = n ; r 1 is alkyl ranging from 3 to 12 carbons ; r 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of ( a ) alkyl having 8 to 26 carbons , ( b ) alkyl containing 29 to 48 carbons , ( c ) a branched alkyl having the structure : r 3 is independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl having 2 to 12 carbons , a alkyl having the following structures : in a more preferred embodiment r 4 is alkyl containing 10 carbons . in a more preferred embodiment r 1 is alkyl containing 3 carbons . in a more preferred embodiment r 2 is a branched alkyl containing 28 carbons . another aspect of the present invention is a process for conditioning skin which comprises contacting the skin with an effective conditioning concentration of a polyester having the following structure : b is an integer ranging from 1 to 10 ; with the proviso a + b = n ; r 1 is alkyl ranging from 3 to 12 carbons , or mixtures thereof ; r 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of ( a ) alkyl having 8 to 26 carbons , ( b ) alkyl containing 29 to 48 carbons , ( c ) a branched alkyl having the structure : r 3 is independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl having 2 to 12 carbons , a branched alkyl having the following structure : in a preferred embodiment said effective conditioning concentration ranges from 0 . 1 to 20 % by weight . in a preferred embodiment r 4 is alkyl containing 10 carbon atoms . in a preferred embodiment r 1 is alkyl containing 3 carbon atoms . in a preferred embodiment r 2 is a branched alkyl containing 28 carbon atoms . fatty acids useful in the practice of the present invention are items of commerce commercially available from cognis . fatty acids useful as raw materials in the preparation of compounds of the present invention are commercially available from a variety of sources including procter and gamble of cincinnati ohio . the structures are well known to those skilled in the art . fatty alcohols are useful as raw materials in the synthesis of the compounds of the present invention are commercially available from a variety of sources including basf . they conform to the following structure ; dimer acid is an item of commerce available commercially from cognis corporation . it conforms to the following structure : hydrogenated dimer acid is an item of commerce available commercially from henkel corporation . it conforms to the following structure : dicarboxylic acid useful as raw materials in the synthesis of the compounds of the present invention are commercially available from a variety of sources including cognis . they conform to the following structure ; guerbet alcohols useful as raw materials in the preparation of compounds of the present invention are commercially available from a variety of sources including sasol north america incorporated of houston tex . the structures are well known to those skilled in the art . polymeric ethylene alcohols are sold under the tradename unilin ™ alcohols . unilin is a trademark of baker hughes incorporated . baker hughes defines the alcohols as “ based on proprietary technology , unilin ™ alcohols are fully saturated , long chain , linear primary alcohols . compared to other commercially available synthetic alcohols , unilin alcohols are of higher molecular weight , greater crystallinity , and higher purity with an 80 % primary alcohol concentration .” these linear alcohols are traditionally limited to c30 and lower , while unilin alcohols are available with average carbon chain lengths up to c50 . a further attractive feature of the unilin alcohols is the relatively narrow of about 1 . 1 polydispersity ( mw / mn ). the molecular weight is calculated from the hydroxyl value and the r - value from the molecular weight . the tradename is not given merely for reference . diols are useful as raw materials in the synthesis of the compounds of the present invention are commercially available from a variety of sources including basf . they conform to the following structure ; glycerin is an item of commerce and is available from a variety of sources including cognis of cincinnati ohio . it conforms to the following structure : a specified number of grams glycerin is added to a specified amount of fatty acids ( examples 1 - 19 ), dicarboxylic acid ( examples 29 - 38 and examples 27 & amp ; 28 ), and alcohol ( examples 39 - 45 and examples 20 - 26 ). the reaction mixture is heated to 160 - 180 ° c . water is removed by vacuum during the reaction process . the reaction is monitored by the determination of acid value . the acid value will diminish as the reaction proceeds . the reaction is cooled once the acid value fails to change over an additional two hours at elevated temperature . the product is used without purification . the nature of the terminal groups surprisingly has a major impact upon the physical properties of the polymer . when r 2 is alkyl c28 - 48 ( unlin alcohol derived ) the polymers are high melting , hard waxes . alkyl products between 18 and 26 carbon atoms result in a product that is soft and exhibits thixotropic properties . this makes these materials good for pigmented products , where they allow for spreading of the pigment on the skin and skin conditioning . when the terminal group has between 8 and 16 carbon atoms the resulting material tends to be liquid . the most interesting is when the r 2 group is a mixture of c28 - 48 and liquid c8 - c14 . these materials are buttery and very interesting to the cosmetic chemist for skin butters . the nature of the r 1 and r 3 group are also critically important to the functionality of the resulting polymer . surprisingly , dimer acid provides water proofing properties to the polymer , while the c2 to c12 materials result in polymers that do not give waterproofing properties . waterproofing products find use in color cosmetics and sun care products . while the illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described with particularity , it will be understood that various other modifications will be apparent to and can be readily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , it is not intended that the scope of the claims appended hereto be limited to the examples and descriptions set forth hereinabove but rather that the claims be construed as encompassing all the features of patentable novelty which reside in the present invention , including all features which would be treated as equivalents thereof by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains .
the present invention is directed to a series of functionalized glycerin based polymers that have been designed to have very specific substitution patterns , herein referred to as regio - specific substitution . the properties of these polymers can be controlled and tuned by judicial control of the polymerization conditions , specifically by employing the use of mono - functional monomers . this polymer will has “ compartments ” of solid and liquid pendant group domains if the proper pendant groups are chosen . this unique multi - dimensional , high definition polymer will have very unique physical properties , including unique shear and flow behaviors . these polymers will provide outstanding and unique skin feels when used in cosmetic applications .