Direct Cyclodextrin‐Mediated Ring Opening Polymerization of ϵ‐Caprolactone in the Presence of Yttrium Trisphenolate Catalyst

Unmodified β‐cyclodextrin has been directly used to initiate ring‐opening polymerization of ϵ‐caprolactone in the presence of yttrium trisphenolate. Well‐defined cyclodextrin (CD)‐centered star‐shaped poly(ϵ‐caprolactone)s have been successfully synthesized containing definite average numbers of arms (N_arm = 4–6) and narrow polydispersity indexes (below 1.10). The number‐average molecular weight ( ) and average molecular weight per arm ( ) are controlled by the feeding molar ratio of monomer to initiator. The prepared star‐PCL with of 2.7 × 10³ is in fully amorphous and that with of 13.3 × 10³ is crystallized. In addition, the obtained poly(e‐caprolactone) (PCL) stars with various molecular weights have different solubilities in methanol and tetrahydrofuran, which can be applied for further modifications.