ABSTRACT
The term epoxy is a prefix referring to a bridge consisting of an oxygen atom bonded to two other atoms already united in some way. This chapter deals only with the synthesis and characteristics of the three-membered ring α- or 1,2-epoxides wherein the other two atoms are carbon. The capability of this group to undergo a large variety of addition and polymerization reactions leads to the numerous thermoplastic and thermosetting forms of epoxy resins. We define an epoxy resin as any molecule containing one or more 1,2-epoxy groups. The chemistry of 1,2-epoxides has been reviewed by numerous authors, including Winstein and Henderson [1], Eliel [2], Parker and Isaacs [3], Rosovsky [4], Malinovskii [5], and Buchanan and Sable [6]. Reviews on epoxy resins have been published by Lee and Neville [7], Coderre [8], Skeist [9], Paquin [10], Harper [11], St. Pierre [12], Kastens [13], Wismer [14], Furukawa and Saegusa [15], Schrade [16], Landau and Lidov [17], Ishii and Sakai [18], Pruckmayr [19], May and Tanaka [20], and Sandler and Karo [21]. Some aspects of epoxide chemistry have also reviewed by Dittus [22], Staude and Patat [23], Schoenberg [24], Yandovskii and Ershov [25], Buddrus [26], Tomalia [27], Wohl [28], Lane [29], Meleshevich [30], Huisgen [31], Stirling [32], and other [33–46].
