Recent Advances in Sequence‐Controlled Ring‐Opening Copolymerizations of Monomer Mixtures

• Published in: Chemistry, an Asian journal Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. e202201147 - n/a
• Main Authors: Wang, Xiaoqian, Huo, Ziyu, Xie, Xiaoyu, Shanaiah, Narasimhamurthy, Tong, Rong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 14.02.2023
• Subjects: Chemical synthesis; Chemistry; Copolymerization; Copolymers; Degradation; Mixtures; Molecular weight distribution; Monomers; polycarbonate; polyester; Polymers; Polyolefins; Renewable resources; Ring opening polymerization; ring-opening copolymerization; sequence-controlled polymerization; ring-opening copolymerization; polyester; sequence-controlled polymerization; polycarbonate; ring-opening polymerization
• ISSN: 1861-4728; 1861-471X
• DOI: 10.1002/asia.202201147

Transforming renewable resources into functional and degradable polymers is driven by the ever‐increasing demand to replace unsustainable polyolefins. However, the utility of many degradable homopolymers remains limited due to their inferior properties compared to commodity polyolefins. Therefore, the synthesis of sequence‐defined copolymers from one‐pot monomer mixtures is not only conceptually appealing in chemistry, but also economically attractive by maximizing materials usage and improving polymers’ performances. Among many polymerization strategies, ring‐opening (co)polymerization of cyclic monomers enables efficient access to degradable polymers with high control on molecular weights and molecular weight distributions. Herein, we highlight recent advances in achieving one‐pot, sequence‐controlled polymerizations of cyclic monomer mixtures using a single catalytic system that combines multiple catalytic cycles. The scopes of cyclic monomers, catalysts, and polymerization mechanisms are presented for this type of sequence‐controlled ring‐opening copolymerization. In this review, recent advances in achieving one‐pot, sequence‐controlled polymerizations of cyclic monomer mixtures using a single catalytic system that combines multiple catalytic cycles have been highlighted. The scopes of cyclic monomers, catalysts, and polymerization mechanisms are presented for this type of sequence‐controlled ring‐opening copolymerization.