Reversible-deactivation anionic alternating ring-opening copolymerization of epoxides and cyclic anhydrides: access to orthogonally functionalizable multiblock aliphatic polyesters

The alternating copolymerization of epoxides and cyclic anhydrides is an increasingly popular route to aliphatic polyesters that are of interest as biodegradable replacements for petroleum-based polymers and for use in the biomedical field. However, broad and bimodal molecular weight distributions i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical science (Cambridge) 2018-01, Vol.9 (1), p.134-142
Main Authors: Sanford, Maria J, Van Zee, Nathan J, Coates, Geoffrey W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addition polymerization
Aliphatic compounds
Alkenes
Anhydrides
Biodegradability
Block copolymers
Catalysis
Chemical synthesis
Chemistry
Copolymerization
Deactivation
Polyester resins
Polymerization
Ring opening polymerization
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Summary:The alternating copolymerization of epoxides and cyclic anhydrides is an increasingly popular route to aliphatic polyesters that are of interest as biodegradable replacements for petroleum-based polymers and for use in the biomedical field. However, broad and bimodal molecular weight distributions in these polymerizations continues to be an issue, limiting synthesis of multiblock copolymers. By use of a bifunctional catalytic system, the reversible-deactivation anionic alternating ring-opening copolymerization of epoxides and cyclic anhydrides gives unimodal polymers with values generally less than 1.07. This allowed for the formation of well-defined triblock copolymers. Additionally, by incorporating both aldehyde and alkene functionalities into the polymer, orthogonal post-polymerization modification was achieved, giving access to well-defined highly modifiable aliphatic polyesters. A versatile catalyst system for the synthesis of narrow dispersity polyesters from readily available epoxides and anhydrides is reported.
ISSN:2041-6520
2041-6539
DOI:10.1039/c7sc03643d