The desirable material properties of vinyl polymers, such as polyolefins, have made them ubiquitous in the world today. Unfortunately, they have proven to be highly resistant to various chemical recycling methods and those known methods and processes are plagued with poor selectivity and harsh conditions. Polar vinyl polymers, such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), on the other hand, have been shown to depolymerize to virgin quality monomer under pyrolytic conditions (450 °C). Previously we have reported various polymerization methods to synthesize polar vinyl polymers based on biomass-derived cyclic analogs of linear MMA which showed superior materials properties to PMMA, offering a more sustainable alternative to the petroleum-based PMMA. In this study, we have investigated the chemical recyclability of such renewable polar vinyl polymers and achieve a high recovery yield of the pure monomer, attributed to the cyclic ester structure of the polymer repeat unit. The results of these studies, along with the mechanistic insights and catalytic selection for the chemical recycling, will be discussed.

Chemical recyclability of polar vinyl polymers derived from renewable methylene butyrolactones

2019 Spring National Meeting

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