There has been an increasing interest in developing environmentally friendly and sustainable polymers from biomass-based monomers as alternatives to petroleum-based polymers because of depleting fossil resources and environmental concerns. Bis-hydroxymethylfuran (BHMF) is one of the promising biomass-derived chemicals as a polymer platform. However, BHMF has not been utilized in the synthesis of polycarbonates with general methods due to the thermal instability of BHMF. In this study, BHMF-based polycarbonates (FR-PCs) were prepared at a low temperature with a mediation of carbodiimide, which is a potentially CO2-upcycled method. The glass transition temperature (Tg) was elaborated with a strategy of variation in the rotational barrier of polymer main chains. The rotational barrier was controlled with a Diels-Alder (DA) reaction between the furan group in the polymer and various N-substituted maleimides, resulting in proportionally increased Tg to the maleimide contents.

Synthesis of sustainable polycarbonates and controlling the glass transition temperature: Towards simultaneous biomass-upcycling and CO2 conversion

2019 Fall National Meeting

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