Issue 3, 2016

An aromatic/aliphatic polyester prepared via ring-opening polymerisation and its remarkably selective and cyclable depolymerisation to monomer

Abstract

The ring-opening polymerisation of 2,3-dihydro-5H-1,4-benzodioxepin-5-one (2,3-DHB) with aluminium salen or organocatalysts gives polyester homopolymers and copolymers with L-lactide or rac-β-butyrolactone that contain both aromatic and aliphatic linkages, the first polymers with an aromatic ring in the backbone prepared by this key method. The same Al salen catalyst catalyses a remarkably selective depolymerisation to monomer under modified reaction conditions. The process may be cycled to repeatedly recycle polymer to monomer and maintain the polymer's low dispersity.

Graphical abstract: An aromatic/aliphatic polyester prepared via ring-opening polymerisation and its remarkably selective and cyclable depolymerisation to monomer

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 oct. 2015
Accepted
11 nov. 2015
First published
12 nov. 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Polym. Chem., 2016,7, 553-559

Author version available

An aromatic/aliphatic polyester prepared via ring-opening polymerisation and its remarkably selective and cyclable depolymerisation to monomer

J. P. MacDonald and M. P. Shaver, Polym. Chem., 2016, 7, 553 DOI: 10.1039/C5PY01606A

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