Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

Issue: 51

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Publication date(s): 2019 (online)

Pages: 7315-7318

Volume: 55 Issue: 51

Journal: Chemical Communications

Link: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2019/CC/C9CC02459J

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C9CC02459J

A new way to combine two different polymerisation reactions, using a single catalyst, results in efficient block polymer synthesis. The selective polymerisation of mixtures of L-lactide-O-carboxyanhydride and cyclohexene oxide, using a di-zinc catalyst in a one-pot procedure, allows the preparation of poly(L-lactide-b-cyclohexene carbonate). The catalysis near quantitatively recycles the carbon dioxide released during polyester formation into the subsequent polycarbonate block, with an atom economy of up to of 91%.