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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer
Published on: November 30, 2020
Upcycling of Post-Consumer Polycaprolactone to Polyamides and Poly(ester amide)s via Aminolysis-Dehydrogenative
Yiwei Rao1, Shuo Wen1, Fangxin Zhao1
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China.
Abstract:
Upcycling waste polyesters into valuable materials to address plastic pollution and reduce the waste of carbon resources is a necessary and highly challenging task. Herein, we present an "aminolysis-dehydrogenative polymerization" strategy that enables one-pot upcycling of polycaprolactone (PCL) into polyamides (PAs) and poly-(ester amide)-s (PEAs) in high yields with controllable ester-to-amide ratios and tunable functional moieties. Detailed mechanism analysis elucidates that the process involves four kinds of reactions: aminolysis, dehydrogenative cross-coupling of amine and alcohol, transesterification, and dehydrogenative self-coupling of alcohol. Significantly, the upcycling of post-consumer PCL into PAs and PEAs is also achieved, demonstrating a strong industrial application potential of this approach.
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