The research in the field of bio-based polymers knows a growing interest over years with in parallel the development of chemical building blocks thanks to the biorefineries1,2. Thus 1.3-propanediol and isosorbide are among the renewable monomers industrially available for producing polymers with low carbon foot-print. In particular, isosorbide, resulting from a double dehydration of sorbitol coming from the bioconversion of starch into glucose followed by a reduction3 is recognized as a monomer for future green polymers and is already valorized in commercial polymers like polycarbonate (DurabioTM)4 . The synthesis of polyethers from isosorbide and dihalogenated alkylene was already described but to our knowledge the direct and simple reaction of etherification between PDO and isosorbide was never described before5. The aim of this study was thus to copolymerize isosorbide and PDO according to two different melt processes without any solvent in presence of acid catalyst: co-etherification of PDO and isosorbide (Figure 1) and trans-etherification between polytrimethylene ether glycol and isosorbide. This led in both cases to oligomers having isosorbide units at each extremity and little inner isosorbide units. This is due to a mechanism involving etherification and trans-etherification reactions where isosorbide reacts decreasing the molar mass of polymers chains. These new telechelic oligoethers have higher compatibility to water and higher Tg level and thermal stability than oligomer of polytrimethylene ether glycol6. Therefore such oligomers can be considered as new intermediates for designing new surfactants and/or new copolymers.

Bio-Based oligoethers from isosorbide and 1.3-propanediol: Synthesis and characterization

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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