One-Pot Synthesis of Polyester-Polyolefin Copolymers by Combining Ring-Opening Polymerization and Carbene Polymerization

The ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of a cyclic ester using alkyl acetate carbene (ROCOCH:) is generated from diazoacetate as organocatalyst under microwave irradiation, which enables the one‐pot preparation of copolymers of polyester and polyolefin. The chemical structure of the polymerized product is characterized by NMR, Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR), and UV–vis spectroscopy. The incorporation of the azo group into the obtained copolymer is determined by elemental analysis, which indicates that 1.38–6.21% nitrogen is contained in the obtained copolymers. The influences of catalyst and microwave irradiation parameters on the polymerization are investigated. Both the microwave power and irradiation time have great influences on the copolymerization. Moreover, the molar mass of the obtained polymers is calculated with polystyrene standards, which gradually increases from 600 to 36 100 g mol−1 as the reaction temperature increases from 60 to 120 °C. Poly­mer with M¯n of 36 100 g mol−1 and PDI of 1.86 is produced under optimized conditions. The combination of ROP and carbene polymerization offers a new and convenient pathway to synthesize copolymers of polyesters and polyolefins. The first example of metal‐free copolymerization of carbene polymerization and ring‐opening polymerization under microwave irradiation is reported.