Semicrystalline Polyesters Based on a Novel Renewable Building Block

Isohexides, like e.g. isosorbide, are well-known carbohydrate-based rigid diols which are capable of dramatically increasing the glass transition temperature of polyesters. However, their relatively low reactivity has thus far hampered large-scale industrial applications in the polymer field. Recently, with the aim to increase reactivity while at the same time retain rigidity, we have developed a new isoidide dicarboxylic acid (IIDCA) by transforming the secondary hydroxyls into carboxylate functionalities. Here we report the first polymers based on IIDCA and linear α,ω-diols. The novel polyesters were obtained via melt polymerization and exhibited weight-average molecular weights in the range of 13 000–34 000 g/mol and polydispersities close to 2.0. NMR analyses showed that the exo–exo configuration of the isoidide dicarboxylate units was preserved during synthesis. Both differential scanning calorimetry and wide-angle X-ray diffraction analyses showed that the IIDCA polyesters are semicrystalline materials. A systematic study on structure–thermal properties relations among relevant series of polyesters, such as isomeric polymers based on isoidide, revealed several interesting differences in melting and glass transition temperatures, which are thought to be related to variations in chain packing and free volume.