4.7 Article

Rational Optimization of Bifunctional Organoboron Catalysts for Versatile Polyethers via Ring-Opening Polymerization of Epoxides

Journal

MACROMOLECULES
Volume 55, Issue 20, Pages 9081-9090

Publisher

AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01596

Keywords

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Funding

  1. Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China
  2. National Natural Science Foundation of China
  3. [LR21B040001]
  4. [51973186]
  5. [91956123]
  6. [22101253]

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This study systematically investigates the catalytic performance of a series of well-defined organoboron catalysts in ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of epoxides. It is found that the increase of Lewis acidity and the number of B centers of the catalysts contribute to a high catalytic activity. Additionally, the catalysts are capable of producing telechelic polyols with controllable molecular weight in the presence of different chain transfer agents.
Quaternary ammonium and phosphonium borane bifunctional catalysts have shown high catalytic performance in ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of epoxides to produce polyether. Herein, we systematically investigate a series of well-defined organoboron catalysts by varying the electronic and steric properties of the Lewis acidic boron (B) centers, manipulating the steric hindrance on the ammonium cation (N+), adjusting the distance between B and N+, and regulating the nucleic B number of the catalysts. The investigation on the dinuclear catalysts indicated that the reactivity of a given catalyst could be speculated by its B- N-B angle and the B center dot center dot center dot B distance. We found that the increase of Lewis acidity and the number of B centers of the organoboron catalysts are useful for a high catalytic activity for ROP of epoxides. The Lewis acidity of the B centers was determined using the acceptor numbers, showing an order of borinane (23.4) > BBN (21.7) > BCy2 (18.8) > Bpin (15.5). Moreover, we demonstrated the production of various telechelic polyols in the presence of different chain transfer agents using the organoboron catalysts. The produced telechelic samples have a well-defined terminal functionality with controllable molecular weight. Lastly, these organoboron catalysts were utilized to produce block copolymers, allyl-terminated macromonomers, and random copolymers.

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