Preparation of phenol–urea–formaldehyde copolymer adhesives under heterogeneous catalysis

A new synthetic strategy for PUF copolymers based on three steps was developed. In the first step, two precondensates of phenol with formaldehyde and urea with formaldehyde, respectively, were produced. In the second step, the two precondensates were mixed and condensed using a heterogeneous catalyst in a tube reactor at 90°C. The last step is a vacuum distillation to reach the final copolymer compositions. With regard to the properties, the products can be used as adhesive. The copolymers were analysed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), ¹³C‐NMR‐spectroscopy, and MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 2946–2952, 2006