New Polymers Made from Carbon Dioxide and Alkenes

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an attractive raw material for chemical synthesis owing to its abundance and low toxicity. Among various utilizations of CO2 for the synthesis of useful compounds, this article focuses on its use for polymer synthesis. While synthesis of polyurea, polyurethane, and aliphatic and aromatic polycarbonates have been well-studied, this article focuses on another class of approach that uses a lactone derived from CO2 and 1,3-butadiene. Recent publications are summarized in relation to our synthesis of polylactone.