An energy efficient and facile synthesis of high molecular weight polyesters using ketenes

摘要

Polyesters form one of the most intensely studied and commercially successful class of commodity polymers with applications ranging from biomedical devices to beverage containers.1-4 Synthetically, polyesters are typically obtained by ring opening polymerization or via polycondensation strategies with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) being a classic example of the latter.1'5'6 In wide academic and industrial use, condensation approaches to polyesters are often limited by the efficient removal of a small molecule (typically methanol, ethylene glycol or water) from the reaction mixture, and the necessity to drive the polymerization to near completion to obtain high molecular weight material.1'2 Stringent conditions, such as high reaction temperature, high vacuum, long reaction times, metal catalysts, and sequential polymerization steps are required which makes the process of preparing high molecular weight polyesters an extremely energy intensive and dedicated procedure. In order to circumvent the rigorous and energy demanding conditions typically employed for polyester synthesis, a new strategy for the preparation of high molecular weight polyesters is needed that is based on stable monomers, short reaction times and non-demanding polymerization conditions.