Modern thermoplastic polyesters are mainstay polymeric materials that help propel today's growing economies. Important applications include food packaging for insuring our food supply, fibers, molded and extruded plastic objects, high performance films for flexible electronic devices, and advanced composites, <i>inter alia</i>. Even though polyesters were not the first commercial synthetic polymers, Carothers' pioneering research at DuPont on aliphatic polyesters in the 1930's is cited as the first intentional polymerizations from monomers to prepare synthetic polymers. However, it was not until the early 1940's that Whinfield and Dickson in the UK at Calico Printers Association (CPA), used terephthalic acid in place of Carothers' aliphatic diacids and obtained poly (ethylene terephthalate( (PET) which has a melting point of ca.270 <sup>o</sup>C. Thus, PET overcame the low melting points of the aliphatic polyesters and enabled the production of useful synthetic fibers. ICI licensed PET from CPA and DuPont obtained patent rights and proceeded to commercialize PET fiber in the USA. Other companies began to search for new monomers to produce polyesters outside the DuPont patents to enter into the fast growing polyester fiber market. Eastman Kodak Company developed a process for the reduction of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) to 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM) and commercialized poly (1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate( (PCT) as a competitive polyester fiber. This product demonstrates a basic difference in the R&D process between polyesters and polyolefins. In contrast to polyolefins, where new catalysts can lead to major backbone and property variations, polyesters require new monomers to yield new properties and products. Today new polyesters and copolyesters are entering the marketplace based on incorporation of new diols and diacids. Therefore the history of polyester advances is inextricably linked with the development of new monomers. Some recent examples will be discussed.

Polyesters-from discovery to indispensable modern materials

256th National Meeting (2018)

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