Polymers synthesized from carbon dioxide are attractive as they have the potential to deliver improved sustainability compared to the current petrochemical derived polymers.1 Copolymerizing epoxides and CO2 can lead to the formation of low molecular weight, di-hydroxyl terminated, polycarbonates, which are important for use in polyurethane synthesis.2 However, efficient polymer formation from carbon dioxide is reliant on the activity and selectivity of the catalysts used.1 Many catalysts have been synthesized for the copolymerization of epoxides and CO2; some of the most active catalysts are homodinuclear metal complexes, but until now heterodinuclear catalysts remain unreported.1, 3 This presentation will outline a new in situ route to forming a catalyst system consisting of a mixture of homo- and heterodinuclear Zn�Mg complexes and the characterisation techniques used.  This catalyst system exhibits significantly higher activity in cyclohexene/CO2 copolymerization reactions compared to the homodinuclear catalysts alone or in combination.  Additionally, this catalyst system still conveys excellent polymerization control even with three different catalysts species present.  The system is very robust and also shows promising activity in propylene oxide/CO2 copolymerization reactions.3 1 Kember, M. R.; Buchard, A.; Williams C. K., Chem. Commun., 2011, 47 , 141�1632 Cyriac, A.; Lee, S. H.; Varghese, J. K.; Park, E. S.; Park, J. H.; Lee, B. Y., Macromolecules, 2010, 43 , 7398�7401.3 Saini, P. K.; Romain, C.; Williams, C. K., Chem. Commun., 2014, DOI:  10.1039/C3CC49158G

Dinuclear metal catalysts: Improved performance of heterodinuclear mixed catalysts for CO<sub>2</sub>�epoxide copolymerization

248th National Meeting (2014)

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Dinuclear metal catalysts: Improved performance of heterodinuclear mixed catalysts for CO2�epoxide copolymerization

Dinuclear metal catalysts: Improved performance of heterodinuclear mixed catalysts for CO₂�epoxide copolymerization