Unsaturated Macrolactones from Renewable Feedstocks: Synthesis, Ring-Opening Polymerization and Application Prospects

Unsaturated macrolactones (UMs) have long attracted researchers' attention due to a combination of a reactive ester fragment and C=C bond in their structures. UMs of natural origin are comparatively few in number, and the task of developing synthetic approaches to new UMs is relevant. Recent advances in the synthesis of UMs cannot be dissociated from the progress in design of metathesis catalysts, since this catalytic approach is an atom-economy alternative to conventional organochemical methods. In the present review, we summarized and discussed the use of ring-closing metathesis, catalyzed by Ru and Group 6 metal complexes, in the synthesis of Ums and the advantages and shortcomings of the catalytic approach to UMs in comparison with organochemical methods. In a separate section, the use of UMs in the synthesis of unsaturated polyesters, the functionalization of these (co)polymers, and the prospects for practical use of the material obtained are also presented. It is essential that the actual approaches to UMs are often based on the use of renewable feedstocks, thereby meeting Green Chemistry principles.