Highly Active Heterogeneous Double Metal Cyanide Catalysts for Ring-Opening Polymerization of Cyclic Monomers

• Published in: Polymers Vol. 14; no. 12; p. 2507
• Main Authors: Tran, Chinh-Hoang, Lee, Min-Woong, Lee, Soo-Jeong, Choi, Jin-Hyeok, Lee, Eun-Gyeong, Choi, Ha-Kyung, Kim, Il
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 20-06-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Catalysts; Catalytic activity; Chemical analysis; Chemical composition; Chemical synthesis; Dimethyl acetamide; Dimethyl sulfoxide; Dimethylformamide; double metal cyanide; epoxide; Infrared spectroscopy; lactone; Lasers; Metals; Molecular weight; Monomers; Nitromethane; Photoelectrons; Polymerization; Polyols; Propylene oxide; Radiation; Reaction mechanisms; Ring opening polymerization; X ray powder diffraction; Zinc; δ-valerolactone; United States > US; Japan
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym14122507

A series of heterogeneous Zn-Co double metal cyanide (DMC) catalysts were investigated for ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of various cyclic monomers. Notably, inexpensive and commonly used organic solvents such as acetone, N,N-dimethylacetamide, N,N-dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, nitromethane, and 1-methylpyrrolidin-2-one were very effective complexing agents for the preparation of DMC catalysts, showing high catalytic activity for the ROP of propylene oxide, ε-caprolactone, and δ-valerolactone. The chemical structures and compositions of the resultant catalysts were determined using various techniques such as FT-IR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and elemental analysis. α,ω-Hydroxyl-functionalized polyether and polyester polyols with high yields and tunable molecular weights were synthesized in the presence of various initiators to control functionality. Kinetic studies of the ROP of δ-valerolactone were also performed to confirm the reaction mechanism.