Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization of Biomass-Derived Levoglucosenol.

The readily available cellulose-derived bicyclic compound levoglucosenol was polymerized through ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) to yield polylevoglucosenol as a novel type of biomass-derived thermoplastic polyacetal, which, unlike polysaccharides, contains cyclic as well as linear segments in its main chain. High-molar-mass polyacetals with apparent weight-average molar masses of up to 100 kg mol-1 and dispersities of approximately 2 were produced despite the non-living/controlled character of the polymerization due to irreversible deactivation or termination of the catalyst/active chain ends. The resulting highly functionalized polyacetals are glassy in bulk with a glass transition temperature of around 100 °C. In analogy to polysaccharides, polylevoglucosenol degrades slowly in an acidic environment.

Entropy-Driven Ring-Opening Disulfide Metathesis Polymerization for the Synthesis of Functional Poly(disulfide)s.

Metal-free entropy-driven disulfide metathesis polymerization of unsaturated l-cystine based macrocycles produces high-molar-mass heterofunctional poly(disulfide)s, i.e., poly(ester-disulfide-alkene) and poly(amide-disulfide-alkene); Mwapp = 44-60 kDa, Р> 1.7. The polymerization is fast and reaches equilibrium within 1-5 minutes (monomer conversion 70-90%) in polar aprotic solvents such as N,N-dimethylacetamide, dimethylsulfoxide, or γ-valerolactone. Thiol-terminated polymers are stable in bulk or when dissolved in weakly polar solvents, but rapidly depolymerize in dilute polar solution.