2-Oxo-12-crown-4-ether (OC) was procured in a novel, two-step procedure in a 37% overall yield. This interesting hydrophilic lactone was effectively polymerized with Novozym 435 as the catalyst: within 10 min, the monomer conversion was greater than 95%. Poly(2-oxo-12-crown-4-ether) [poly(OC)] was obtained as a viscous oil with a glass-transition temperature of approximately -40 degrees C, and it was soluble in water. Subsequently, OC was copolymerized with w-pentadecanolactone (PDL). A kinetic evaluation of both monomers showed that for OC, the Michaelis-Menten constant (K?,4) and the maximal rate of polymerization (V-max) were 2.7 mol/L and 0.24 mol/L min, respectively, whereas for PDL, K-M and V-max were 0.5 mol/L and 0.09 mol/L min, respectively. Although OC polymerized five times faster than PDL, H-1 NMR analysis of the copolymers revealed a random copolymer structure. Differential scanning calorimetry traces of the copolymers showed that they were semicrystalline and that the melting temperature and melting enthalpy of the copolymers linearly decreased with an increasing amount of OC. The melting temperature of the copolymers could be adequately predicted by the Baur equation, and this suggested that poly (OC) was rejected from the poly(w-pentadecanolactone) [poly(PDL)] crystals. Solid-state NMR studies confirmed that the crystalline phase exclusively consisted of poly (PDL), whereas the amorphous phase was a mixture of OC and PDL units. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.