Problems associated with both plastic wastes and environmental impacts associated with petrochemical extraction are driving research into sustainable polymers. It is important to broaden the range and property profiles of polymers which are both biodegradable and sourced from renewable resources. One option is to target block polymers and so far, the majority of research has focused on different blocks formed by lactone ring-opening polymerization. One limitation is the limited range and polymerizability of functionalized and rigid lactones. In this work, alternative fully renewable ‘hard’ block materials are prepared by the ring-opening copolymerization (ROCOP) of cyclic anhydrides and limonene oxide, both of which can be derived from terpenes. Exploiting a recently discovered ‘Switch catalysis’ which allows block sequence selectivity from monomer mixtures, epoxides, anhydrides and lactones are selectively combined to form ABA-type block copolymers in one pot using a dinuclear catalyst. By optimizing the A (‘hard block’) and B (‘soft block’) ratio, the material properties of the polymers can be tuned. This paves the way for the development of polymeric materials, featuring degradable ester linkages, for applications such as thermoplastic elastomers and adhesive materials from fully renewable sources.

Towards fully renewable polymeric materials: Block copolymers from bio-based monomers

2019 Fall National Meeting

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