Catalysis of carbon dioxide and oxetanes to produce aliphatic polycarbonates

Abstract

Although the coupling of CO₂ and a variety of epoxides is a well-developed area of study which has been extensively reviewed in the open literature, analogous processes involving CO₂ and oxetanes are much less investigated. In this review, we will summarize the reports which utilize a broad range of metal and metal-free catalysts for the coupling of CO₂ and oxetanes to afford copolymers, either directly or via the ring-opening polymerization of preformed six-membered cyclic carbonates. Comparative mechanistic aspects of these two CO₂/cyclic ethers coupling processes are presented along with the related processes involving sulfur analogs of carbon dioxide.