Su-Yin Kan, Yu Jin, Xiaojiang He
Oct 2, 2013
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0
Influential Citations
46
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Journal
Polymer Chemistry
Abstract
Imidodiphosphoric acid (IDPA) catalyzed ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of δ-valerolactone (δ-VL) and e-caprolactone (e-CL) with benzyl alcohol (BnOH) as the initiator in toluene at room temperature was investigated. The overall conversions of δ-VL and e-CL to poly(δ-valerolactone) (PVL) and poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL), respectively, were more than 90%. Experimental results indicated the living nature of the polymerizations. The polymerization reactions with different monomer-to-initiator ratios proceeded homogeneously to afford PVL and PCL with controlled molecular weight and narrow polydispersities. 1H NMR and MALDI-TOF MS measurements demonstrated the quantitative incorporation of the initiator in the polymer chains. The controlled/living character of the polymerization was examined thoroughly by the kinetics and chain extension experiments, indicating that the IDPA-catalyzed ROPs of δ-VL and e-CL proceeded through a living mechanism.