Study of cure kinetics of DGEBA with optically active curing agents

3-Deoxy-D- erythro -hexos-2-ulose bis (thiosemicarbazone) ( I ) readily obtained from d -glucose reacts with copper acetate hydrate to give the corresponding chelate ( II ). The complex ( II ) was acetylated to give the corresponding tri- O -acetyl derivative ( III ). The ( I ), ( II ), and ( III ) were used as optically active curing agents for diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)-based epoxy resin, and the cure reaction was studied by the non-isothermal DSC method. The maximum exothermic temperature ( T p ) of curing of DGEBA-( III ) system shifted about 313 K toward lower temperature in comparison with the T p of DGEBA/( II ) system. The average E a values obtained by using Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS), Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO), and isoconversional methods for non-isothermal curing of DGEBA-( I ), DGEBA-( II ), and DGEBA-( III ) systems are 95.8, 135.5, and 85.8 kJ mol −1 , respectively. The higher reactivity of ( III ) toward epoxide groups can be due to better solubility of the ( III ) in DGEBA as a result of acetylation of hydroxyl groups.