Patent Title: BIODEGRADABLE AND/OR BIOABSORBABLE THERMOPLASTIC POLYURETHANES

 Number/Link: WO2018/140912

Applicant/Assignee:  Lubrizol

Publication date: 2 august 2018

“Gist”: TPU breaks down into non-toxic components

Why it is interesting: The invention is related to biodegradable TPU for medical use in vivo. The TPU is prepared from isocyanates, polyols and chain extenders that biodegrade into non-toxic products, e.g. hexane diisocyanate, butanediisocyanate, lysine diisocyanate, poly(ε-caprolactone), polyglycolide, dipropylene glycol, diethyleneglycol etc.  The TPUs are prepared at a hardblock content of 15-45% (pref).
I strongly doubt that this case is patentable because the same compositions are disclosed inanother Lubrizol application discussed before in this blog.

Lysine diisocyanate

Patent Title: TIME RELEASED DELIVERY OF FUNCTIONAL CHEMICALS

 Number/Link: US2018/0127638

Applicant/Assignee:  Covestro

Publication date: 10 May 2018

“Gist”:  Functional chemicals are reacted with isocyanates for controlled release in fracking wells.

Why it is interesting:  Hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas production is a complex process that requires a “fracking fluid” containing a proppant together with a host of chemicals like defoamers, demulsifiers, biocides etc.  According to this application it is advantageous that these chemicals are released slowly over time during the complete lifecycle of the well. It is stated that this can be achieved by reacting the additives with mono- or polyfunctional isocyanates and (e.g.) incorporating these compounds into the proppant coating.  The additives should have an active hydrogen able to react with isocyanate, or be modified to have such.
The text does not propose a mechanism for this controlled release and it is not clear why this should work.  And -strangely- the “examples” section does not contain any examples.       

Some fracking fluid additives.