In a future less reliant on fossil fuels, polymeric materials must be realized which, along with being economically advantageous, come from sustainable sources, are at least as useful as fossil fuel plastics, and, when their useful lifetimes are up, be amenable to returning to biological and geological life cycles in reasonable timeframes. In other words, plastics of the future must have a green birth, an effective lifetime, and a green death.The oxa-lactone 1,3-dioxolan-4-one was prepared from glycolic acid and paraformaldehyde, which in turn can be made from georenewable small molecules such as methanol, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde. Ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of 1,3-dioxolan-4-one can be accomplished in modest yields using tin octoate/benzyl alcohol co-initiator system affording crystalline, insoluble materials. Melting temperatures of these homopolymers range from 143-217 �C, depending on initiator concentration.Though of interest as homopolymers, perhaps more commercially attractive is the use of esteracetals as comonomers. When a small amount (app. 4%) of dioxolanone is incorporated in the ROP of lactide, the resulting modified polylactic acid (poly(L-lactide-co-1,3-dioxolan-4-one)) exhibits a small increase in glass transition temperature (a rarity in copolymerizations), while simultaneously enhancing the degradation profile of PLA by around 100-fold. Utilizing this approach to modifying polyesters can create highly attractive and cost-effective candidates for either enhancing or replacing existing thermoplastic materials coming from non-renewable sources.

Marine-degradable polylactic acid

248th National Meeting (2014)

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