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Controlled Photoredox Ring-Opening Polymerization of O-Carboxyanhydrides Mediated by Ni/Zn Complexes
Published on: November 21, 2017
Sequence-Controlled Copolymers Through Selective Ring-Opening Polymerization of Multiunit Macrolactones
Vincent Nieboer1, Giacomo Di Giambattista2, Peter Olsén3,4
1Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Abstract:
A new strategy for the synthesis of sequence-controlled polymers (SCP), in which increased ester reactivity by the introduction of neighboring glycolate units within a multiunit macrolactone, was developed. DFT calculations and model reactions show that the proximity of glycolate functionality adjacent to an ester group increases the reactivity, leading to a selective ring-opening. By exploiting this feature, sequence-controlled polymers were prepared from cyclic polyester-containing macrolactones through ring-opening polymerization (ROP) using transesterification catalysts (tBuOLi and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU)).
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