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Microwave‐Assisted Single‐Step Synthesis of Poly(lactic acid) by Direct Polycondensation of Lactic Acid
Author(s) -
Nagahata Ritsuko,
Sano Daisuke,
Suzuki Hidematsu,
Takeuchi Kazuhiko
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.200600715
Subject(s) - condensation polymer , lactic acid , polymerization , polymer , catalysis , materials science , polymer chemistry , microwave , ring opening polymerization , microwave irradiation , chemical engineering , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering , genetics , biology , bacteria
The microwave‐assisted direct polycondensation of LA to synthesize PLA has been studied. Microwave irradiation strikingly accelerates the polymerization rate of LA compared to conventional heating. By use of a binary catalyst of SnCl 2 / p ‐TsOH, PLA with a $\overline M _{\rm w}$ of 16 000 is obtained within 30 min under a reduced pressure of around 30 mmHg. MALDI‐TOF MS measurements reveal that the PLA formed is mainly composed of linear polymer and macrocyclics.