Projects per year
Abstract
Bio-based aliphatic polycarbonates (APCs) are attractive synthetic materials for biomedical applications because of their biodegradabilty and biocompatability properties. A high yielding 3-step process that utilises CO2 as a C1 synthon is presented for converting raw sugar, 2-deoxy-D-ribose into a novel 6-membered cyclic carbonate for ring-opening polymerisation (ROP) into carbohydrate-based APCs. The α- and β-anomers of the monomer could be isolated and revealed very different polymerisability, as rationalised by DFT calculations. Whereas the β-anomer could not be polymerised under the conditions tested, organocatalytic homopolymerisation of the α-anomer, in solution at room temperature (rt) or under melt conditions, yielded highly insoluble polycarbonates, composed of both cyclic and linear topologies, and exhibiting a glass transition temperature (Tg) of ∼58 °C. Random copolymers with controllable incorporation of this new sugar monomer were prepared with trimethylene carbonate (TMC) at rt in the bulk or in solution with Mn up to 64 000 g mol−1. With increasing sugar content, the Tg values of the copolymers increased and their thermal degradability was enhanced, giving access to a new class of APCs with tailored properties.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 2093-2104 |
Journal | Polymer Chemistry |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 15 Mar 2017 |
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Polymers from sugars and CO2: Ring-opening polymerisation and copolymerisation of cyclic carbonates derived from 2-deoxy-d-ribose'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
-
Catalytic Production of Monomers for Sustainable Polymers from Carbon Dioxide and Diols
Buchard, A. (PI)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
1/07/16 → 31/01/18
Project: Research council
-
Novel Sustainable Plastics from CO2 and Sugars
Buchard, A. (PI)
21/03/16 → 28/02/17
Project: Research council
Equipment
-
Electrospray Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (Open-Access)
Material and Chemical Characterisation (MC2)Facility/equipment: Equipment
-
High Performance Computing (HPC) Facility
Chapman, S. (Manager)
University of BathFacility/equipment: Facility