Polymer Containing Lactone Pendant Groups: Synthesis and Potential for Sustainable Materials

Abstract

The transition from fossil-based plastics to sustainable and circular polymer materials demands not only renewable feedstocks but also chemically diverse structural motifs. Lactones, cyclic esters present in natural products and pharmaceuticals, occupy a privileged position in polyester synthesis. While they are classically exploited as monomers for ring-opening polymerization to polyesters, vinyl-functional lactones and lactone-derived motifs offer a broader design space when incorporated as pendant groups on synthetic polymer backbones. Particularly, the five- and six-membered ring structures of - and -lactones provide properties like those of acrylate counterparts. Inspired by natural occurrence and developments in biorefinery, lactone pendant group polymers will emerge as attractive functional polymers. In this minireview, we therefore highlight five- and six-membered lactone pendant polymers as an emerging platform for sustainable polymer materials.