The Design of Novel Zinc Complexes for Applications in Polylactide Catalysis and Metal Organic Frameworks.

摘要

There is a high demand for environmentally friendly materials including commodity plastics/polymers, biomedical devices and gas adsorbents. Over the past few years, significant effort has been focused on the synthesis of biodegradable polymers like polylactides as a viable alternative to petrochemical based polymers like polyolefins. Current methods for the synthesis of polylactides involve the use of toxic metals. As an approach to combating the problem, zinc based complexes were utilized. Several novel zinc beta-enaminoester based organometallic compounds were synthesized and then investigated for their potential as polylactide catalysts. The impact of sterics and electronic effects on the performance of these catalysts were discussed.;Additional experiments led to the preparation of carboxylic acid based organic linkers as precursors for the design of metal organic frameworks. Each organic linker was reacted with zinc nitrate to afford zinc metal organic framework materials. The materials were investigated for flue gas adsorption properties. Adsorption studies showed selectively absorption for carbon dioxide over oxygen and nitrogen which suggests that they are potential materials for sequestration of carbon dioxide.