Abstract
The alicyclic epoxy resins are broadly divided into a cycloalkene oxide type and an alicyclic polyglycidyl ether type by the oxirane ring structure. As for the cycloalkene oxide type, there are two methods to prepare epoxy resins. One is the direct epoxidation of cycloalkenes, and another is the prepolymerization of cycloalkene oxides having (meth)acrylic or allyl groups. About the glycidyl ether, there are three methods as follows; hydrogenation of aromatic glycidyl ethers, etherification of alicycles with epichlorohydrin, and epoxidation of allyl ethers. Particularly the epoxidation by hydrogen peroxide is very important, since hydrogen peroxide is relatively inexpensive, environmentally friendly and safe. Improvements of alicyclic epoxy resins are focused on the development of fast curing systems and high performance insulation resins. Applications to LED encapsulation materials and printable materials have been examined, so a future development is expected. (Received May 17, 2010)
