Patent ID: 7858733

Claim:
A high functionality, highly branched or hyperbranched polyester produced by a process comprising an acid catalyzed reaction of: (1) at least one aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic dicarboxylic acid (A 2 ); and (2) at least one aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic diol (B 2 ); with (3B) at least one aliphatic, clycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic polycarboxylic acid (D y ) having three or more carboxylic acid groups; and (4) in the absence of a functionalized building block (E); and (5) an optional α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid (F), wherein the acid catalyzed reaction is carried out in the presence of at least one acidic catalyst, with the proviso that said acidic catalyst is not an enzyme, wherein a molar ratio of hydroxyl groups to carboxylic acid groups is from 5:1 to 1:5, wherein the polyester has a degree of branching of 10-99.9%, wherein the polyester has a low degree of crosslinking of less than 15 wt. %, and wherein the polyester has a number average molecular weight of at least 500 g/mol and a polydispersity index of 1.2-50.