Polycarbonates from biorenewable diols via carbonate metathesis polymerization

Carbonate metathesis polymerization (CaMP), an application of the carbonate interchange reaction, is developed and applied to form high-molecular-weight polycarbonates (M_n up to 49 400) from renewable diols and dimethyl carbonate. The CaMP methodology can be applied in a stepwise fashion that first iso-lates bis-carbonates or it can be applied directly to diols. A survey of twenty catalysts is conducted and K₂CO₃ is identified as competent for the direct method since it catalyzes both carbonate for-mation from alcohols and carbonate interchange. Diol selection and copolymerization strategies – including the incorporation of aromatic diols – allow for precise tuning of polymeric thermal properties. Furthermore, supplementary information is available at https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/suppl/10.1680/gmat.12.00022/suppl_file/gmat.12.00022_SupplementaryInformation.PDF