Highly Enantioselective Catalytic System for Asymmetric Copolymerization of Carbon Dioxide and Cyclohexene Oxide

A new ligand can be easily prepared, and its intramolecular dinuclear zinc complexes act as a high performance catalyst for the asymmetric alternating copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide and CO2 under very mild conditions (1 atm CO2, room temperature), affording completely alternating polycarbonates with up to 93.8% enantiomeric excess (ee) and 98% yield. A high M-n value of 28600 and a relatively narrow polydispersity (M-w/M-n ratio) of 1.43 were also achieved.