TY - JOUR A1 - Kricheldorf, H. R. A1 - Weidner, Steffen A1 - Scheliga, F. T1 - Ring-opening polymerizations of L-Lactide catalyzed by zinc caprylate: Syntheses of cyclic and linear poly(L-lactide)s T2 - Journal of Polymer Science A: Polymer Chemistry N2 - Alcohol-initiated ring-opening polymerizations (ROPs) of L-Lactide (LA) were conducted in bulk at 130 °C catalyzed by Zn acetate (ZnAc2), lactate (ZnLac2), or caprylate (ZnCap2). 11-undecenol (UND), 1-hydroxymethylnaphtalene (HMN), and 4-nitrobenzylalcohol (4NB) were used as alcohols. Whereas variation of the alcohols had little effect, the usefulness of the catalysts increased in the order: acetate < lactate < caprylate. Hence, further alcohol-initiated polymerizations were performed with ZnCap2 alone and with variation of the lactide/catalyst (LA/Cat) ratio. With increasing LA/Cat ratio higher fractions of cyclic poly(L-lactide) (PLA) were found, so that the measured degree of polymerization (DP) is considerably lower than the theoretical value (i.e., 2 x LA/alcohol). With neat ZnCap2 cyclic PLAs were the largely prevailing reaction products. For these cyclic PLAs weight average molar masses (Mw) up to 134,000 were obtained and an optical purity around 99% was indicated by 13C NMR spectroscopy and DSC measurements even after 48 h at 150 or 160 °C. PB - Wiley KW - Cyclization KW - Lactide KW - Ring opening polymerization KW - Transesterification KW - Zinc catalyst KW - MALDI PY - 2022 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/55756 AN - OPUS4-55756 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-557565 SN - 2642-4150 SP - 1 EP - 10 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany