Bio-based benzoxazine from renewable L-tyrosine: Synthesis,polymerization, and properties

Developing thermosets derived from renewable sources is of great importance. In this work, a fully bio-based benzoxazine monomer, 3,6-bis((3-(furan-2-ylmethyl)-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzoe]1,3]oxazin-6-yl)methyl)piperazine-2,5-dione (TCDPF), is conveniently synthesized from L-tyrosine cyclic dipeptide (TCDP), furfurylamine and paraformaldehyde. The chemical structure of TCDPF is confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. The curing behavior of TCDPF is investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and in situ FT-IR techniques. After temperature-programmed curing, the thermomechanical property and thermal stability of the resulting TCDPF polymer (PTCDPF) are evaluated by dynamic mechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis techniques, respectively. It is found that PTCDPF have excellent comprehensive performance such as high glass transition temperature (T_g = 322 °C), high thermal degradation temperature (T_5% = 342 °C, T_10% = 395 °C in N₂ atmosphere), and high char yield (CY = 51.3% at 800 °C in N₂ atmosphere). The results demonstrate that L-tyrosine is a promising bio-based raw material for preparing high performance polybenzoxazines.