Abstract: Mixtures of diphenylmethane diisocyanates and polyphenylpolymethylene polyisocyanates (raw MDI) having a reduced iodine color number and a reduced chlorine content are prepared by reacting the corresponding mixtures of diphenylmethanediamines and polyphenylpolymethylenepolyamines with phosgene in the presence of at least one inert organic solvent at elevated temperature, and then, after phosgenation is complete, incorporating into the reaction mixture, in the presence or absence of the phosgene, a mixture of water and at least one monohydric or polyhydric polyoxyalkylene alcohol, preferably having a functionality of from 2 to 3, and advantageously having a hydroxyl number of from 20 to 1800, in an effective amount which advantageously comprises from more than 0.01 to 0.3% by weight of water (i) and from 0.

Abstract: The invention provides polyurethane components and compositions capable of providing internal mold release properties in SRIM applications. The polyol composition of the invention has an isocyanate reactive polyol (A) having a number average molecular weight from 100 to about 10,000 and an effective amount of internal mold release composition (B) having a silicon-containing polymer (a) and an epoxidized ester (b). The invention further provides an SRIM polyurethane composition useful in the preparation of molded polyurethane articles having internal mold release properties, the composition comprising an isocyanate component (I) and the isocyanate reactive polyol composition (component (II)) disclosed above. In another aspect of the invention, the invention provides methods of using the claimed compositions as well as the rigid cellular polyurethane SRIM articles resulting from such processes.