A DFT-metadynamics study disclosing key properties of ring-opening polymerization catalysts to produce polyethercarbonate polyols from cyclic ethylene carbonate as part of an emerging CCU technology.

This review aims to cover the topic of polycarbonate synthesis via ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic carbonates. We report a wide variety of ROP-initiating systems along with their detailed mechanisms. We focus on the challenges of preparing the polymers; the precise control of the properties of the materials, including molecular weight; the compositions of the copolymers and their structural characteristics. There is no one approach that works for all scales in cyclic carbonates ROP. A green process to produce polycarbonates is a luring challenge in terms of CO2 utilization and the targeted domains for application. The main resolution seems to be the use of controlled incorporation of functional/reactive groups into polymer chains that can tailor the physicochemical and biological properties of the polymer matrices, producing what appears to be an unlimited field of applications. Glycerol carbonate (GC) is prepared from renewable glycerol and considered as a CO2 fixation agent resulting in GC compound. This family of five-membered cyclic carbonates has attracted the attention of researchers as potential monomers for the synthesis of polycarbonates (PCs). This cyclic carbonate group presents a strong alternative to Bisphenol A (BPA), which is used mainly as a monomer for the production of polycarbonate and a precursor of epoxy resins. As of December 2016, BPA is listed as a substance of very high concern (SVHC) under the REACH regulation. In 2006, Mouloungui et al. reported the synthesis and oligomerization of GCs. The importance of GCs goes beyond their carbonate ring and their physical properties (high boiling point, high flash point, low volatility, high electrical conductivity) because they also contain a hydroxyl group. The latter offers the possibility of producing oligo and/or polycarbonate compounds that have hydroxyl groups that can potentially lead to different reaction mechanisms and the production of new classes of polycarbonates with a wide range of applications.

This critical review summarizes recent developments in the preparation and application of lithium catalysts/initiators such as, alkyl lithium, alkoxy lithium and bimetallic lithium compounds for ring-opening polymerization (ROP). The ROP of cyclic esters, cyclic carbonates, cyclo-silazanes, cyclo-silanes, cyclo-siloxanes, cyclo-carboxylate, cyclic phosphirene and quinodimethanes are covered in this review. The present paper emphasizes the polymerization kinetics and the control exhibited by the different types of lithium initiators/catalysts. For the cases where useful properties, such as high molecular weight, narrow PDI, or stereocontrol, have been observed, a more detailed examination of the mechanistic studies of the catalysts/initiators are provided. Furthermore, this review also focuses on the synthesis of block copolymers and graft copolymers by ROP principle. The topics covered in this review regarding lithium compounds toward ROP will be of interest to inorganic, organic and organometallic chemists, material, polymer and catalytic scientists due to its unique mode of activation as compared to transition and inner transition-metals. In addition, use of these compounds in catalysis is steadily growing, because of the complementary reactivity toward ROP as compared to other metals. Finally, some aspects and opportunities which may be of interest in the future are suggested (143 references).

Ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic esters (lactones, lactides, cyclic carbonates and phosphates) is an effective tool to synthesize biocompatible and biodegradable polymers. Metal complexes effectively catalyze ROP, a remarkable diversity of the ROP mechanisms prompted the use of density functional theory (DFT) methods for simulation and visualization of the ROP pathways. Optimization of the molecular structures of the key reaction intermediates and transition states has allowed to explain the values of catalytic activities and stereocontrol events. DFT computation data sets might be viewed as a sound basis for the design of novel ROP catalysts and cyclic substrates, for the creation of new types of homo- and copolymers with promising properties. In this review, we summarized the results of DFT modeling of coordination ROP of cyclic esters. The importance to understand the difference between initiation and propagation stages, to consider the possibility of polymer–catalyst coordination, to figure out the key transition states, and other aspects of DFT simulation and visualization of ROP have been also discussed in our review.

Review: 143 refs.

We here report the synthesis of two types of six‐membered cyclic carbonate monomers equipped with various drug molecules through ester linkages. The target compounds can be isolated in good yields and feature diagnostic IR and 13C NMR spectroscopic fingerprints in line with their proposed connectivities. As a potential application, we investigated their ring‐opening polymerization (ROP), showing that the nature of the cyclic carbonate is crucial towards macromolecular carbonate formation. The functionalized polycarbonates have molecular weights of up to 10 kg/mol, controllable functionality and a variable drug‐to‐carbonate ratio. This work demonstrates the adaptive synthesis of new types of functionalized six‐membered cyclic carbonates with potential as precursors to polycarbonate‐drug type macromolecules.

With the increased awareness of avoiding residue metals, the field of organocatalysts is attracting more attention. Aliphatic tertiary amines, such as triethylamine (TEA), N, N, N, N‐tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) and 1,1,4,7,7‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDTA), have low boiling points which allow their easy elimination after a chemical reaction. Here, we used these aliphatic tertiary amines to catalyze ring‐opening polymerizations (ROPs) of trimethylene carbonate (TMC). In the presence of benzyl alcohol, the catalytic activities of the tertiary amines were in the order of TEA < TMEDA < PMDTA. Correlation between the molecular weight of polycarbonates and monomer conversions was linear, suggesting the polymerization was controlled. The polymerization pathway was presumed to follow an alcohol‐activated mechanism according to the end‐group fidelity determined using 1H NMR spectroscopy. The ROP of TMC was also successfully initiated by PEO99‐PPO65‐PEO99 (F127) under the catalysis of the tertiary amines, producing well‐defined PTMCn‐F127‐PTMCn copolymers with narrow dispersity (ca 1.2) and with thermosensitive properties in aqueous solution. Furthermore, copolymerizations of TMC with acryloyl‐containing cyclic carbonate were catalyzed by the tertiary amines in the presence of F127. No crosslinking reactions were detected. Our results demonstrate that the aliphatic tertiary amines have the potential to catalyze TMC homo‐ or copolymerization featuring controllable structure and composition under mild conditions. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry

The reactivity of iron-based ring opening polymerization catalysts is compared when the catalyst is in three different oxidation states. Formally iron(i) monoalkoxide complexes 3a (p-methoxyphenoxide) and 3b (neopentoxide) supported by bis(imino)pyridine ligands were synthesized and investigated as catalysts for the ring opening polymerization and copolymerization of various monomers. For most monomers, 3a and 3b were superior catalysts compared to analogous, formally iron(ii) and iron(iii) complexes (1a/1b and 2a/2b, respectively) for the ring opening polymerization of various cyclic ester and cyclic carbonate monomers. Experimental and computational investigation into the electronic structures of 3a and 3b revealed that they are most accurately described as containing a high spin iron(ii) center that is antiferromagnetically coupled to a singly reduced bis(imino)pyridine ligand. This electronic structure leads to increased electron density near the metal center without modulating the apparent metal oxidation state, which results in superior catalytic performance for the more highly reduced 3a and 3b compared to the increasingly more oxidized complexes (i.e.1a/1b and 2a/2b, respectively) in ring opening polymerization reactions. These findings have significant ramifications for the emerging field of redox-switchable polymerization catalysis.

The ring-opening polymerisation (ROP) of lactide (LA) is an attractive route to produce aliphatic polyesters, with bimetallic catalysts displaying some of the highest catalyst activities to date. While a range of heterometallic catalysts have been reported to outperform their homometallic analogues, the origins of cooperativity are not always well understood. Previous studies indicate that the reaction pathways may differ for different metal heterocombinations, especially when an alkali metal is combined with zinc or aluminium. Here, a series of homo- and hetero-metallic complexes combining Li with Al, Zn or In, supported by an asymmetric methyl-ester substituted salen ligand (H 2 L), have been synthesised and characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, to probe potential differences. The heterobimetallic LLiZnCl, LLiAlCl 2 , and LLiInCl 2 complexes were all active for rac-LA ROP in the presence of an epoxide initiator, with LLiInCl 2 offering the most efficient polymerisation while homobimetallic LLi 2 was inactive. Investigations into the roles of the different metals through X-ray diffraction and DFT structural studies suggest that oxophilicity, Lewis acidity, and electronegativity difference between the two metals all play a role, with the high oxophilicity and Lewis acidity of Al overriding the "ate" pathway.

In order to achieve high-efficiency conversion of CO2 into valuable chemicals, and to exploit new applications of organobismuth compounds, cationic organobismuth complex with 5,6,7,12-tetrahydrodibenz[c,f][1,5] azabismocine framework was examined for the first time for the coupling of CO2 into cyclic carbonates, using terminal epoxides as substrates and tetrabutylammonium halide as co-catalyst in a solvent-free environment under mild conditions. It is shown that the catalyst exhibited high activity and selectivity for the coupling reaction of CO2 with a wide range of terminal epoxide. The selectivity of propylene carbonates could reach 100%, and the maximum turnover frequency was up to 10740 h−1 at 120°C and 3 MPa CO2 pressure when tetrabutylammonium iodide was used as co-catalyst. Moreover, the catalyst is environment friendly, resistant to air and water, and can be readily reused and recycled without any loss of activity, demonstrating a potential in industrial application.

A two-component initiator system based on the in situ generation of Wittig salts (alkytriarylphosphonium bromides) has been developed for the ring-opening polymerization of cyclic bisphenol-A (BPA) carbonate oligomers for potential use in composite applications so that the prepolymer can suitably wet the composite material before being converted to high molecular weight polymer. The Wittig salt precursors (an alkyl bromide, such as hexadecyl bromide, and a triarylphosphine, such as triphenylphosphine) did not independently initiate significant ring-opening polymerization of the oligomeric cyclic BPA carbonate mixture. However, when the two mixtures of cyclic BPA carbonate oligomers and initiator component were combined, a high molecular weight polymer (Mw = ∼ 65,000) was produced. The polymerization initiating species is thought to be hexadecyltriphenyl-phosphonium bromide. Consistent with this hypothesis is the observation that authentic Wittig salts did initiate ring-opening polymerization to provide high molecular weight polycarbonate. The effects of structure and concentration of the initiator components, reaction temperature, time, etc. on polymerization were studied; in general, the degree of polymerization ranged from 65 to 85%. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Acid Promoted Ring-Opening Polymerization Behavior of Cyclic Carbonates and Lactones

Anionic equilibrium polymerization behavior of several six-membered cyclic carbonates was examined. The conversions of the monomers reached a constant below 100%, and the final conversion decreased in the order of 1,3-dioxan-2-one (1) > 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one (2) > 5,5-diethyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one (3) ≥ 5-methyl-5-phenyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one (4) > 5-ethyl-5-phenyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one (5). The reactions of 2,2-disubstituted-1,3-propanediols were carried out with phosgene dimer to find that the cyclic carbonate (5) was formed quantitatively in the reaction of 2-ethyl-2-phenyl-1,3-propanediol, while the corresponding polycarbonate was formed in the reaction of 2,2-diethyl-1,3-propanediol in 24% yield besides 3. Thermodynamic parameters were estimated in the anionic ring-opening polymerizations of cyclic carbonates (1−5) by Dainton's equation. The obtained ΔHp value in the ring-opening polymerization of each cyclic carbonate reflected the polymerizability. Molecular orbital calculations of the model compounds of the polymers were carried out to find that the polymerizabilities of the cyclic carbonates correlated with the stabilities of the corresponding polymer structures. The concentrations of the monomers formed in the depolymerizations well agreed with the equilibrium monomer concentrations in the anionic ring-opening polymerizations.

DuPont launches new additive to extend PLA applications

α-Methylene-γ-butyrolactone (MBL), a naturally occurring and biomass-sourced bifunctional monomer, contains both a highly reactive exocyclic C═C bond and a highly stable five-membered γ-butyrolactone ring. Thus, all previous work led to exclusive vinyl-addition polymerization (VAP) product P(MBL)VAP. Now, this work reverses this conventional chemoselectivity to enable the first ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of MBL, thereby producing exclusively unsaturated polyester P(MBL)ROP with Mn up to 21.0 kg/mol. This elusive goal was achieved through uncovering the thermodynamic, catalytic, and processing conditions. A third reaction pathway has also been discovered, which is a crossover propagation between VAP and ROP processes, thus affording cross-linked polymer P(MBL)CLP. The formation of the three types of polymers, P(MBL)VAP, P(MBL)CLP, and P(MBL)ROP, can be readily controlled by adjusting the catalyst (La)/initiator (ROH) ratio, which is determined by the unique chemoselectivity of the La-X (X = OR, NR2, R) group. The resulting P(MBL)ROP is degradable and can be readily postfunctionalized into cross-linked or thiolated materials but, more remarkably, can also be fully recycled back to its monomer thermochemically. Computational studies provided the theoretical basis for, and a mechanistic understanding of, the three different polymerization processes and the origin of the chemoselectivity.

Thiourea (TU)/amine base cocatalysts are commonly employed for well-controlled, highly active “living” organocatalytic ring-opening polymerizations (ROPs) of cyclic esters and carbonates. In this work, several of the most active cocatalyst pairs are shown by 1H NMR binding studies to be highly associated in solution, dominating all other known noncovalent catalyst/reagent interactions during ROP. One strongly binding catalyst pair behaves kinetically as a unimolecular catalyst species. The high selectivity and activity exhibited by these ROP organocatalysts are attributed to the strong binding between the two cocatalysts, and the predictive utility of these binding parameters is applied for the discovery of a new, highly active cocatalyst pair.