Monomer-Recyclable Polyester from CO 2 and 1,3-Butadiene

Synthesis of monomer-recyclable polyesters solely from CO and bulk olefins holds great potential in significantly reducing CO emissions and addressing the issue of plastic pollution. Due to the kinetic disadvantage of direct copolymerization of CO and bulk olefins compared to homopolymerization of bulk olefins, considerable research attention has been devoted to synthesis of polyester via the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of a six-membered disubstituted lactone intermediate, 1,2-ethylidene-6-vinyl-tetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-one (δ-L), obtained from telomerization of CO and 1,3-butadiene. However, the conjugate olefin on the six-membered ring of δ-L leads to serious Michael addition side reactions. Thus, the selective ROP of δ-L, which can precisely control the repeating unit for the production of polyesters potentially amenable to efficient monomer recycling, remains an unresolved challenge. Herein, the first example of selective ROP of δ-L is reported using a combination of organobase and N,N'-Bis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]urea as the catalytic system. Systematic modifications of the substituent of the urea show that the presence of electron-deficient 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)-phenyl groups is the key to the extraordinary selectivity of ring opening over Michael addition. Efficient monomer recovery of oligo(δ-L) is also achieved under mild catalytic conditions.