Catalytic phthalic anhydride/limonene oxide copolymerisation

摘要

There has been considerable interest in identifying or manufacturing new raw materials from renewable resources that can replace petrochemical-derived raw materials in polymers, eg polyesters. Polyesters are commonly prepared via a condensation polymerisation of a difunctional alcohol-type species and a difunctional acid-type species at a high temperature in order to remove water or alcohol, produced as a side product, and drive the reaction to completion. Other polyesters, such as the poly(caprolactone) and poly(lactic acid), may be prepared under quite mild conditions via the ring-opening polymerisation of the cyclic esters, with good control over molecular weight, dispersity and polymer structure. Polymers can also be prepared via a catalytic ring opening copolymerisation of epoxides and anhydrides, but by comparison with the other processes, relatively little work has been undertaken and published, at least until the recent work by Coates on the catalytic copolymerisation of epoxides and carbon dioxide to form polycarbonates.