Macromolecules, Vol.47, No.2, 517-524, 2014
Metal-Based Catalysts for Controlled Ring-Opening Polymerization of Macrolactones: High Molecular Weight and Well-Defined Copolymer Architectures
This contribution describes our recent results regarding the metal-catalyzed ring-opening polymerization of pentadecalactone and its copolymerization with epsilon-caprolactone involving single-site metal complexes based on aluminum, zinc, and calcium. Under the right conditions (i.e., monomer concentration, catalyst type, catalyst/initiator ratio, reaction time, etc.), high molecular weight polypentadecalactone with M-n up to 130 000 g mol(-1) could be obtained. The copolymerization of a mixture of epsilon-caprolactone and pentadecalactone yielded random copolymers. Zinc and calcium-catalyzed copolymerization using a sequential feed of pentadecalactone followed by epsilon-caprolactone afforded perfect block copolymers. The blocky structure was retained even for prolonged times at 100 degrees C after full conversion of the monomers, indicating that transesterification is negligible. On the other hand, in the presence of the aluminum catalyst, the initially formed block copolymers gradually randomized as a result of intra- and intermolecular transesterification reactions. The formation of homopolymers and copolymers with different architectures has been evidenced by HT-SEC chromatography, NMR, DSC and MALDI-ToF-MS.