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Towards Truly Sustainable Polymers: A Metal‐Free Recyclable Polyester from Biorenewable Non‐Strained γ‐Butyrolactone
Author(s) -
Hong Miao,
Chen Eugene Y.X.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201601092
Subject(s) - superbase , polyester , monomer , deprotonation , chemistry , polymerization , polymer , polymer chemistry , metal , organic chemistry , catalysis , ion
The first effective organopolymerization of the biorenewable “non‐polymerizable” γ‐butyrolactone (γ‐BL) to a high‐molecular‐weight metal‐free recyclable polyester is reported. The superbase tert ‐Bu‐P 4 is found to directly initiate this polymerization through deprotonation of γ‐BL to generate reactive enolate species. When combined with a suitable alcohol, the tert ‐Bu‐P 4 ‐based system rapidly converts γ‐BL into polyesters with high monomer conversions (up to 90 %), high molecular weights ( M n up to 26.7 kg mol −1 ), and complete recyclability (quantitative γ‐BL recovery).