A Zn-MOF-Catalyzed Terpolymerization of Propylene Oxide, CO2, and beta-butyrolactone

Abstract

The terpolymerization of propylene oxide (PO), CO2, and a lactone is one of the prominent sustainable procedures for synthesizing thermoplastic materials at an industrial scale. Herein, the one-pot terpolymerization of PO, CO2, and beta-butyrolactone (BBL) was achieved for the first time using a heterogeneous nano-sized catalyst: zinc glutarate (ZnGA-20). The reactivity of both PO and BBL increased with the CO2 pressure, and the polyester content of the terpolymer poly (carbonate-co-ester) could be tuned by controlling the infeed ratio of PO to BBL. When the polyester content increased, the thermal stability of the polymers increased, whereas the glass transition temperature (T-g) decreased.