Ring-opening polymerizations (ROP) of cyclic esters and epoxides have been studied extensively during the past decades leading to polymers having novel and fascinating properties. Although the mechanisms of the ROP of many monomers have been proposed, the detailed investigation especially their solid-state structures during the ring-opening event has not been thoroughly carried out. In this work, tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane, B(C6F5)3, was used as a Lewis acid model for metal complex. This compound was found to coordinate with lactones, lactide, and epoxides. Their solid-state structural determination was carried out to visualize and to model the coordinating event during the ROP of the monomers. Sequential addition of different monomers gave a qualitative understanding of their coordinating power to the Lewis acid center.

Investigation of ring-opening mechanism using x-ray crystallography

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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