Thermoplastic polymer compositions having enhanced properties, as well as methods of making and using the same, are provided. Thermoplastic polymers according to some aspects of the present invention may be rigid, but may also be suitable for use in applications requiring a thermoplastic polymer resin. Thermoplastic polymers according to various aspects of the present invention may be useful in preparing shaped articles such as, for example, sheets, films, tubes, preforms, bottles, profiles, and other similar articles.

The invention relates to a thiol-functional organic compound having on average at least 3.1 thiol groups per molecule, and having carbon atoms, oxygen atoms, and sulfur atoms, and optionally further heteroatoms, and wherein the ratio of the number of carbon atoms (C) to the sum of the number of heteroatoms (HA), (C/HA) is at least 2.0, and wherein the thiol groups are derived from 2-mercapto acetic acid, 2-mercapto propionic acid, or 3-mercapto propionic acid, or esters thereof; and to a liquid coating composition comprising the thiol-functional compound and a thiol-reactive crosslinker.

The invention relates to new, water-emulsifiable isocyanates, to a process for preparing water-emulsifiable isocyanates, and to the use thereof.

A composition of the formulae MZAORS.sub.nR.sup.1F.sup.1.sub.mOAZ.sup.1M.sup.1, wherein O and S have their normal meaning of oxygen and sulfur, n is at least 2 and not more than 8, F.sup.1 is of the formula OAORS.sub.nR.sup.1, m is at least 1, Z and Z.sup.1 are the same or different and are oxy or amino, M and M.sup.1 are the same or different and are hydrogen or an organic substituent, R and R.sup.1 are the same or different and are organic divalent radicals, each having from 2 to 20 carbon atoms, and A is the residue of a dicarboxylic acid of from 2 to 40 carbon atoms.

Biodegradable photoluminescent polymer (BPLP) which comprises an oligomer synthesized from a multifunctional monomer, a diol, and an amino acid by reacting (i) a multifunctional monomer comprising citric acid or triethyl citrate with (ii) a diol to form a reaction product, and further reacting the reaction product with (iii) an amino acid, wherein the amino acid is linked as a side group to the oligomer backbone. The BPLP of the present invention poses tunable fluorescence emission characteristics and are cell-compatible and biodegradable. The BPLP can serve as both implant materials and bioimaging probes.