Expert: Dr. Henry Boyter, Jr. - 9/26/2005

Question
Thank you. Could you please tell what R stands for? So alcohol ester and talc are common in paints? Wouldn't alcohol evaporate pretty quickly after it is applied? Is it possible for alcohol ester in this paint to continue evaporating after 5 weeks?
Thanks.
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Followup To
Question -
Thank you. I guess I uderstand what alcohol is but don't understand what alcohol ester is because I do not know what ester is.

Here is the list of ingridients from the web site:

Ingredients: Water, chalk, asbestos-free talcum, titanium dioxide, polyphosphate (a water softener), cellulose, alcohol ester, sodium hydroxide, and preservative.

The paint has been on the walls for 5-6 weeks and is a bit tacky and very elastic. i don't know if it will get better.

Thanks.

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Followup To
Question -
Could you tell me what alcohol ester is and what role it usually plays in a paint. I have zero VOC paint which takes forever to drop and was wondering if there is a continuous evaporation of alcohol from a tacky paint.

Thank you.
Answer -
Alcohol ester is a rarely used terminology for a type of solvent similar to alcohols.  Non-VOC is a regulatory definition, it doesn't mean there is no solvents, just particular types.  The evaporation rate is very depenedent on the specific solvents used, but there will be evaporation.  The paint could be thick or thin, again it is dependent on that particular company's formulation.

Without more specific information, that's the best I can do.
Answer -
Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ester
If you replace R with a alcohol group (HOR-), you get what can be called an alcohol ester.

The ingredients you list are typical in paints (other things can be present).  I would write to the manufacturer to discuss performance.  Send an e-mail through their website.  Most paints also have an 800 number on the can for customer service.  The ingredients will really not help you decide if what you are seeing is normal.

Answer
The R is just another hydrocarbon/organic group.  Look at the examples at the link I gave or do a www.google.com search for other sites.  There will be hundreds discussing esters.  There are probably 100's of alcohol esters on the market.  Again, only the manufacturer can discuss performance since only they know what they added and how much.  Alcohol and ester are very general terms.  Antifreeze is an alcohol and you hope it doesn't evaporate out of your car.