MECHANISTIC STUDIES OF THE COPOLYMERIZATION REACTION OF OXETANE AND CARBON DIOXIDE TO ALIPHATIC POLYCARBONATES. OPTIMIZATION OF THE CR(III) SALEN CATALYST SYSTEM

摘要

Carbon dioxide is an abundant, inexpensive, and nontoxic biorenewable resource which is an attractive raw material for incorporation into important industrial processes. Promising reactions which are technologically viable involve the use of CO2 as both a monomer and cosolvent in the manufacturing of biodegradable copolymers, most notably, aliphatic polycarbonates from reactions with the comonomers oxiranes or oxetanes (equation 1 and 2). An alternative, more convenient, synthesis of poly(trimethylene carbonate) involves the ring-opening polymerization of trimethylene carbonates (equation 3).