Telomerization of 1,3-butadiene with glycerol carbonate and subsequent ring-opening lactone co-polymerization

Glycerol carbonate, straightforwardly issued from glycerol, is functionalized by telomerization with 1,3-butadiene by means of a palladium catalyst, to selectively afford the linear octadienylglyceryl carbonate. Further hydrogenation of the double bonds gives the saturated functionalized product. The resulting glyceryl carbonate ethers are tentatively co-polymerized with lactones in the presence of a neodymium initiator. Copolymers with up to ca 4 mol % of inserted carbonate are received. The rather low amount of inserted co-monomer is found sufficient to modulate the thermal behavior of polycaprolactone.