Biodegradable and biorenewable polymers are an answer to many of the problems that commodity plastics have created. By utilizing Acetal Metathesis Polymerization (AMP), it is possible to create a new class of materials that derive solely from biomass. Acetal interchange mirrors the key olefin metathesis step in ADMET quite closely as illustrated in Figure 1A. This analogy is taken a step further in Figures 1B and 1C. Through the AMP method, simple diol monomers are linked with acetals to produce polyalkylene acetals of respectable molecular weights in a single pot, Figure 1D. By varying the methylene-spacer length between consecutive acetal subunits, the thermal properties of the polymers have been probed. Work to investigate the utility of more complex diols as monomers is currently underway. 

Acetal metathesis polymerization (AMP): Synthesis of biorenewable and (bio)degradable polyacetals from simple diols

245th National Meeting (2013)

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