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Updated: Sep 21, 2025

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer
Published on: November 30, 2020
Unique Base-Initiated Depolymerization of Limonene-Derived Polycarbonates
Chunliang Li1,2, Rafaël J Sablong1,3, Rolf A T M van Benthem1,4
1Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The depolymerization of poly(limonene carbonate) (PLC) initiated by 1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (TBD) was investigated. The strong organic base TBD was capable of deprotonating the OH-terminated PLC, leading to fast degradation via backbiting reactions at high temperature. An interesting feature of the base-initiated breakdown of PLC lies in the quantitative depolymerization into the corresponding initial limonene oxide monomer. This result implies the complete back-to-monomer recyclability of the fully biobased PLC, which accordingly can be considered as a really sustainable material. Additionally, the stability of PLC when exposed to TBD was enhanced by an end-capping reaction, which further supported the proposed degradation pathway.
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