Synthesis and properties of poly(carbonate‐co‐ester)s obtained by cationic ring‐opening copolymerization of spiroorthocarbonate and ε‐caprolactone

Cationic ring‐opening copolymerization behavior of 1,5,7,11‐tetraoxaspiro[5.5]undecane (SOC1) and ε‐caprolactone (CL), and the thermal behavior of the obtained copolymers are described. When SOC1 and CL were cationically copolymerized under various feed ratios using BF₃OEt₂ as the initiator in CH₂Cl₂ at 25 °C, the corresponding copolymers were obtained in 77–99% yields. The ¹H NMR spectroscopic analysis of the copolymers revealed that the copolymer compositions were almost identical to the feed ratios, and the diad ratios of SOC1–SOC1/SOC1–CL and CL–SOC1/CL–CL are 48.0/52.0 and 54.3/45.7. These observations proved the random structures of the copolymers without containing the long blocks of the homopolymer sequences. Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis revealed that the melting points and melting entharpies decreased with the increase of the SOC1 unit compositions, suggesting that the copolymers gain flexibility as the SOC1 unit increases. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2937–2942, 2006     

Poly(hydroxyisobutyrate) by ring‐opening polymerizations of 5,5‐dimethyl‐1,3,2‐dioxithiolan‐4‐one‐2‐oxide

α‐Hydroxyisobutyric acid anhydrosulfate HiBAS (5,5‐dimethyl‐1,3,2‐dioxithiolan‐4‐one‐2‐oxide) was polymerized under various reaction conditions and the solid reaction products were characterized by ¹H NMR spectroscopy, MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry (MT m.s.), fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB m.s.), viscosity, and SEC measurements. Thermal polymerizations at 100 °C mainly yielded cyclic oligo polyesters presumably resulting from a zwitterionic polymerization. Cycles were also detected when pyridine was used as catalyst at 20 °C. When triethylamine was used as catalyst traces of H₂O played the role of initiators. Benzyl alcohol initiated the polymerization of HiBAS at 100 °C and yielded a polyester terminated by one benzylester and one OH endgroup. The SEC measurements indicated that all samples possess relatively low molar masses with number–average molecular weights ≤ 10,000 Da (in contrast to the literature data). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 6229–6237, 2008     

Synthesis and ring‐opening polymerizations of novel S‐glycooxazolines

A new 2‐oxazolines containing S‐galactosyl substituents linked to alkyl chains of different lengths; (S‐glycooxazoline) were prepared relatively in high yields. By using a 1:1 adduct of 2‐methyl‐2‐oxazoline and methyl triflate, as the initiator, the monomer was polymerized via ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) to give products with relatively narrow molecular weight distributions. Homo‐ and copolymerization were performed, and the kinetics of these new S‐glycooxazolines in the ROP are investigated. After a quantitative deprotection, poly(2‐oxazoline)s having pendant carbohydrate were obtained. The interaction of the poly(S‐glycooxazoline) with RCA₁₂₀ lectin was investigated, the binding constant between glycopolymer and lectin was increased by 10² times compared with that of the monosaccharide (D ‐galactose). The in vivo expression of green fluorescent protein using the synthesized poly(S‐glycooxazoline)s as polymeric inducers in Escherichia coli host were performed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

Photoinduced cationic ring‐opening frontal polymerizations of oxetanes and oxiranes

The photoinitiated cationic ring‐opening polymerizations of certain epoxides and 3,3‐disubstituted oxetanes display the characteristics of frontal polymerizations. When irradiated with UV light, these monomers display a marked induction period, during which little conversion of the monomer to the polymer takes place. The local application of heat to an irradiated monomer sample results in polymerization that occurs as a front propagating rapidly throughout the entire reaction mass. For the characterization of these frontal polymerizations, the use of a new monitoring technique, employing optical pyrometry, has been instituted. This method provides a simple, rapid means of following these fast polymerizations and quantitatively determining their frontal velocities. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 1630–1646, 2004     

Development and application of novel ring‐opening polymerizations to functional networked polymers

This Highlight gives an overview of the recent progress in development of new ring‐opening polymerizations (ROPs) and their applications to functional networked polymers in our group. The described ROPs involve thermally induced polymerization of 1,3‐benzoxazine, anionic alternating copolymerizations of epoxides and lactones, and those exhibiting equilibrium nature. These ROPs were successfully applied to the syntheses of the relevant networked polymers, leading to their distinctive features such as high thermal stability, small volume shrinkage, and selective decrosslinking ability, which enabled design and development of next generation materials. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 4847–4858, 2009     

Development of hydrogenated ring‐opening metathesis polymers

New hydrogenated ring‐opening metathesis polymers with excellent thermal and optical properties were developed. These polymers were prepared by the ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of ester‐substituted tetracyclododecene monomers followed by the hydrogenation of the main‐chain double bond. The degree of hydrogenation was an important factor for the thermal stability of the polymers, and as complete hydrogenation as possible was necessary to obtain a thermally stable polymer. The completely hydrogenated ring‐opening polymer derived from 8‐methyl‐8‐methoxycarbonyl‐substituted monomer has a glass‐transition temperature of 171 °C and a 5% weight‐loss temperature of 446 °C. This polymer has excellent thermal and optical properties because of its bulky and unsymmetrical polycyclic structure in the main chain and is an alternative to glass or other transparent polymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate) and polycarbonate resin. This polymer has also been used in a wide variety of applications, such as optical lenses, optical disks, optical films, and optical fiber. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 4661–4668, 2000     

Thermal analysis of ring‐opening metathesis polymerized healing agents

Dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) and 5‐ethylidene‐2‐norbornene (ENB) and their mixtures were analyzed after ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) in the presence of Grubbs catalyst as potential candidate healing agents for self‐healing composite materials using two complementary methods, rotational dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Following isothermal DMA measurements at room temperature (RT = 25 °C) for 120 min, two consecutive dynamic temperature scan experiments were performed for each system. In the first dynamic temperature scans, there was an initial downward peak slightly above RT in the storage modulus versus temperature curve for samples with relatively slower reaction rates (i.e., DCPD and DCPD‐rich mixtures or low catalyst loadings) due to a combination of the glass transition followed by further residual reaction. However, no or negligible downward peaks were observed for the highly reactive ENB and ENB‐rich samples even at much lower catalyst loadings. Implications of the substantial decrease in storage modulus just above RT for the slowly reacting systems are discussed for healing of damage in composite materials at elevated temperatures. The maximum glass transition temperatures (T_g∞) from DMA of the fully cured samples were determined to be approximately 160 °C for DCPD and 120 °C for ENB, decreasing linearly with increased ENB in the blends. The glass transitions and further residual reactions above the glass transitions were confirmed by DSC. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1771–1780, 2007     

Computational evaluation of radical ring‐opening polymerization

The tendencies of ring‐opening processes in radical ring‐opening polymerizations were evaluated by AM1 and PM3 semi‐empirical calculations and 6‐31G*‐level calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) B3LYP models. Sixteen cyclic monomers bearing vinyl or exomethylene groups were categorized into ring‐opening and no‐ring‐opening monomers by the evaluation of the differences of the internal energies and the lengths of the cleaving bonds between the ground states of the initial radicals and the activated states in the ring‐opening processes. Although the semi‐empirical calculations not parameterized to radical reactions resulted in the moderate categorization of the ring‐opening monomers, the DFT calculation clearly distinguished the ring‐opening and no‐ring‐opening monomers. The ring‐opening tendencies were also evaluated with the changes in the internal energies throughout the ring‐opening processes, but this method could not group the ring‐opening and no‐ring‐opening monomers clearly. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2827–2834, 2007     

Chemistry of 2‐oxazolines: A crossing of cationic ring‐opening polymerization and enzymatic ring‐opening polyaddition

Chemistry of 2‐oxazolines is involved in the polymer synthesis fields of cationic ring‐opening polymerization (CROP) and enzymatic ring‐opening polyaddition (EROPA), although both polymerizations look like a quite different class of reaction. The key for the polymerization to proceed is combination of the catalyst (initiator) and the design of monomers. This article describes recent developments in polymer synthesis via these two kinds of polymerizations to afford various functional polymers having completely different structures, poly(N‐acylethylenimine)s via CROP and 2‐amino‐2‐deoxy sugar unit‐containing oligo and polysaccharides via EROPA, respectively. From the viewpoint of reaction mode, an acid‐catalyzed ring‐opening polyaddition (ROPA) is considered to be a crossing where CROP and EROPA meet. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 1251–1270, 2010     

Sequence‐controlled cationic ring‐opening copolymerization of spiroorthocarbonate and oxetane

Pseudo block and triblock copolymers were synthesized by the cationic ring‐opening copolymerization of 1,5,7,11‐tetraoxaspiro[5.5]undecane (SOC1) with trimethylene oxide (OX) via one‐shot and two‐shot procedures, respectively. When SOC1 and OX were copolymerized cationically with boron trifluoride etherate (BF₃OEt₂) as an initiator in CH₂Cl₂ at 25 °C, OX was consumed faster than SOC1. SOC1 was polymerized from the OX‐rich gradient copolymer produced in the initial stage of the copolymerization to afford the corresponding pseudo block copolymer, poly [(OX‐grad‐SOC1)‐b‐SOC1]. We also succeeded in the synthesis of a pseudo triblock copolymer by the addition of OX during the course of the polymerization of SOC1 before its complete consumption, which provided the corresponding pseudo triblock copolymer, poly[SOC1‐b‐(OX‐grad‐SOC1)‐b‐SOC1]. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 3233–3241, 2006     

Synthesis and ring‐opening polymerization of co‐cyclic(aromatic aliphatic disulfide) oligomers

An effective approach was presented for the synthesis of co‐cyclic(aromatic aliphatic disulfide) oligomers by catalytic oxidation of aromatic and aliphatic dithiols with oxygen in the presence of a copper‐amine catalyst. The aromatic dithiols can be 4,4′‐oxybis(benzenethiol), 4,4′‐diphenyl dithiol, 4,4′‐diphenylsulfone dithiol. The aliphatic dithiols can be 1,2‐ethanedithiol, 2,3‐butanedithiol, 1,6‐hexane dithiol. The co‐cyclic(aromatic aliphatic disulfide) oligomers were characterized by gradient HPLC, MALDI‐TOF‐MS, GPC, ¹H‐NMR, TGA, and DSC techniques. The glass transition temperatures of these co‐cyclics ranged from ?11.3 to 56.6°C. In general, these co‐cyclic(aromatic aliphatic disulfide) oligomers are soluble in common organic solvents, such as CHCl₃, THF, DMF, DMAc. These co‐cyclic oligomers readily underwent free radical ring‐opening polymerization in the melt at 180°C, producing linear, tough and high molecular weight poly(aromatic aliphatic disulfide)s. The glass transition temperatures of these polymers ranged from ?3.7 to 107.8°C that are higher than those of corresponding co‐cyclics. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Controlled ring‐opening polymerization of L‐lactide and 1,5‐dioxepan‐2‐one forming a triblock copolymer

Novel elastomeric A‐B‐A triblock copolymers were successfully synthesized in a new two‐step process: controlled ring‐opening polymerization of the cyclic ether–ester 1,5‐dioxepan‐2‐one as the amorphous middle block (B‐block) followed by addition and polymerization of the two semicrystalline L ‐lactide blocks (A‐block). A 1,1,6,6‐tetra‐n‐butyl‐1,6‐distanna‐2,5,7,10‐tetraoxacyclodecane initiator system was utilized and the reaction was performed in chloroform at 60 °C. A good control of the synthesis was obtained, resulting in well defined triblock copolymers. The molecular weight and chemical composition were easily adjusted by the monomer‐to‐initiator ratio. The triblock copolymers formed exhibited semicrystallinity up to a content of 1,5‐dioxepan‐2‐one as high as 89% as determined by differential scanning calorimetry. WAXS investigation of the triblock copolymers showed a crystal structure similar to that of the pure poly(L ‐lactide). © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1774–1784, 2000     

Modification of proline‐based 2,5‐diketopiperazines by anionic ring‐opening polymerization

2,5‐Diketopiperazines (DKPs) are the smallest cyclic dipeptides found in nature with various attractive properties. In this study, we have demonstrated the successful modification of proline‐based DKPs using anionic ring‐opening polymerization (AROP) as a direct approach. Four different proline‐based DKPs with various side chains and increasing steric hindrance were used as initiating species for the polymerization of 1,2‐epoxybutane or ethoxyethyl glycidyl ether in the presence of t‐BuP₄ phosphazene base. The addition of a Lewis acid, tri‐isobutyl aluminum, to the reaction mixture strongly decreased the occurrence of side reactions. Impact of the DKP side‐chain functionalities on molar mass control and dispersity was successfully evidenced. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 1008–1016     

Synthesis and rheology of biodegradable poly(glycolic acid) prepared by melt ring‐opening polymerization of glycolide

Ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of glycolide was studied in melt conditions and in the presence of two different initiators: 1‐dodecanol and 1,4‐butanediol and tin(II) 2‐ethylhexanoate as catalyst. Its subsequent polymerization provided poly(glycolic acid) with controlled molar masses ranging from 2000 to 42,000 g/mol with well‐defined structures characterized by NMR. Their thermal properties were evaluated by DSC analysis, and a glass transition temperature at infinite molar mass (T_g∞) of 44.8 °C was thus calculated. From rheological data, the critical molar mass for entanglement, M_c, was estimated to be near 11,000 g/mol. Furthermore, in situ polymerizations were also performed between the plates of the rheometer within a same temperature range from 210 to 235 °C. The variation of the storage and loss moduli during the polymerization step have been monitored by time sweep oscillatory experiments under an angular frequency ω = 10 rad/s. Finally, the development of an inverse rheological method allowed to calculate the bulk polymerization kinetics in the temperature range 200–230 °C. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1440–1449, 2009     

Cationic ring‐opening polymerization of monothiocarbonate with a norbornene group

This work deals with the cationic ring‐opening polymerization of cyclic thiocarbonates with a norbornene or norbornane moiety, that is, 5,5‐(bicyclo[2.2.1]hept‐2‐ene‐5,5‐ylidene)‐1,3‐dioxane‐2‐thione ( TC1 ) or 5,5‐(bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane‐5,5‐ylidene)‐1,3‐dioxane‐2‐thione ( TC2 ), respectively. The reaction of TC1 initiated by trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TfOH), methyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (TfOMe), boron trifluoride etherate (BF₃OEt₂), or triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate (Et₃OBF₄) afforded unidentified products; however, TC1 underwent cationic ring‐opening polymerization with methyl iodide as an initiator to afford polythiocarbonate because the propagating end was stabilized by the covalent‐bonding property. The polymerization of TC2 initiated by TfOH, TfOMe, BF₃OEt₂, or Et₃OBF₄ afforded polythiocarbonate with good solubility in common organic solvents and a narrow molecular weight distribution because of the absence of a double‐bond moiety. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1698–1705, 2002     

Magnetite‐polylactic acid core–shell nanoparticles by ring‐opening polymerization under microwave irradiation

The synthesis of magnetic core–shell nanoparticles consisting of magnetite cores surface‐functionalized by glycolic acid covered by polylactic acid was performed by applying the “grafting‐from” strategy, where the polymerization is initiated from the particle surface. The surface initiated ring‐opening polymerization of D,L ‐lactide was initiated by tin (II) 2‐ethylhexanoate using microwave irradiation. Core–shell nanoparticles of high colloidal stability in water were obtained in this way. The morphology of the magnetic core–shell nanostructure was determined by transmission electron microscopy, and the chemical structure was elucidated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Magnetic measurements revealed superparamagnetic behavior and high magnetization values. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Synthesis of end‐functionalized polyethers by phosphazene base‐catalyzed ring‐opening polymerization of 1,2‐butylene oxide and glycidyl ether

For the living ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of epoxy monomers, the catalytic activity of organic superbases, tert‐butylimino‐tris(dimethylamino)phosphorane, 1‐tert‐butyl‐2,2,4,4,4‐pentakis(dimethylamino)‐2Λ⁵,4Λ⁵‐catenadi(phosphazene), 2,8,9‐triisobutyl‐2,5,8,9‐tetraaza‐1‐phosphabicyclo[3.3.3]undecane, and 1‐tert‐butyl‐4,4,4‐tris(dimethylamino)‐2,2‐bis[tris(dimethylamino)phosphoranylidenamino]‐2Λ⁵,4Λ⁵‐catenadi(phosphazene) (t‐Bu‐P₄), was confirmed. Among these superbases, only t‐Bu‐P₄ showed catalytic activity for the ROP of 1,2‐butylene oxide (BO) to afford poly(1,2‐butylene oxide) (PBO) with predicted molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution. The results of the kinetic, post‐polymerization experiments, and MALDI‐TOF MS measurement revealed that the t‐Bu‐P₄‐catalyzed ROP of BO proceeded in a living manner in which the alcohol acted as the initiator. This alcohol/t‐Bu‐P₄ system was applicable to the glycidol derivatives, such as benzyl glycidyl ether (BnGE) and t‐butyl glycidyl ether, to afford well‐defined protected polyglycidols. The α‐functionalized polyethers could be obtained using different functionalized initiators, such as 4‐vinylbenzyl alcohol, 5‐hexen‐1‐ol, and 6‐azide‐1‐hexanol. In addition, the well‐defined cyclic‐PBO and PBnGE were successfully synthesized using the combination of t‐Bu‐P₄‐catalyzed ROP and click cyclization. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Cationic ring‐opening polymerization of novel 1,3‐dehydroadamantanes with various alkyl substituents: Synthesis of thermally stable poly(1,3‐adamantane)s

Cationic ring‐opening polymerizations of 5‐alkyl‐ or 5,7‐dialkyl‐1,3‐dehydroadamantanes, such as 5‐hexyl‐ ( 4 ), 5‐octyl‐ ( 5 ), 5‐butyl‐7‐isobutyl‐ ( 6 ), 5‐ethyl‐7‐hexyl‐ ( 7 ), and 5‐butyl‐7‐hexyl‐1,3‐dehydroadamantane ( 8 ), were carried out with super Brønsted acids, such as trifluoromethanesulfonic acid or trifluoromethanesulfonimide in CH₂Cl₂ or n‐heptane. The ring‐opening polymerizations of inverted carbon–carbon bonds in 4–8 proceeded to afford corresponding poly(1,3‐adamantane)s in good to quantitative yields. Poly( 4–8 )s possessing alkyl substituents were soluble in 1,2‐dichlorobenzene, although a nonsubstituted poly(1,3‐adamantane) was not soluble in any organic solvent. In particular, poly( 8 ) exhibited the highest molecular weight at around 7500 g mol^?1 and showed excellent solubility in common organic solvents, such as THF, CHCl₃, benzene, and hexane. The resulting poly( 4–8 )s containing adamantane‐1,3‐diyl linkages showed good thermal stability, and 10% weight loss temperatures (T₁₀) were observed over 400 °C. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4111–4124     

Poly(ethylene‐co‐1,4‐cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate) copolyesters obtained by ring opening polymerization

Cyclic oligomer fractions of ethylene terephthalate c(ET)_n and 1,4‐cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate c(CT)_n were obtained by cyclodepolymerization of their respective polyesters, the former containing around 80 mol % of trimer and the latter with around 70 mol % of trimer to pentamer. Mixtures of these fractions at selected compositions were subjected to ring opening copolymerization to give a series of poly(ethylene‐co‐cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate) copolyesters with ET/CT comonomer ratios ranging from 90/10 to 10/90. The copolyesters were characterized by GPC and NMR, and their thermal properties were evaluated by DSC and TGA. They had essentially the same composition as the feed from which they were produced and had an average‐weight molecular weights between 30,000 and 40,000 g/mol with polydispersities between 2 and 2.7. The distribution of the monomeric units in these copolyesters was essentially at random although it evolved to be a blocky microstructure as the contents in the two comonomers became more dissimilar. Their thermal behavior was the expected one for these types of copolyesters with crystallinity and heating stability decreasing with the content in CT units. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 5954–5966, 2009