Pyridyl-urea catalysts for the solvent-free ring-opening polymerization of lactones and trimethylene carbonate

The ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of lactones is an effective method for the preparation of biocompatible and biodegradable aliphatic polyesters, for which the development of efficient organocatalysts with high activity and good controllability is highly desirable. A series of novel pyridyl-urea catalysts has been synthesized and applied in the solvent-free ROP of lactones and trimethylene carbonate. Combined with 7-methyl-1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (MTBD), the pyridyl-urea/MTBD systems showed a fast and living/controlled behavior in the ROP, generating polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions. The influences of catalyst structure, type of base, pyridyl-urea/base ratio, feed ratio of monomer/initiator and reaction temperature on the catalytic properties were investigated. A possible mechanism was proposed on the basis of NMR titration and dilution experiments.