Metal Complexes in the Synthesis of Biodegradable Polymers: Achievements and Prospects.

This review describes recent advances in the synthesis of homopolymers of lactide and related cyclic esters via ring-opening polymerization (ROP) in the presence of metal complexes based on group 1, 2, 4, 12, 13 and 14 metals. Particular attention is paid to the influence of the initiator structure on the properties of the obtaining homo- and copolymers. Also, a separate chapter is devoted to the study of metal complexes in the synthesis of copolymers of lactide and lactones. This review highlights the efforts made over the last ten years or so, and shows how main-group metals have received increasing attention in the field of the polymerization of lactide and related cyclic esters.

The Novel Gallium Aminobisphenolate Initiator of the Ring-Opening Copolymerization of L-Lactide and ε-Caprolactone: A Computational Study.

Density functional theory (DFT) simulations of ring-opening copolymerization of ε-caprolactone (CL) and L-lactide (LA) in presence of novel gallium complex on aminobis (phenolate) ligand are conducted. The initial steps of polymerization of CL and LA as well as the first steps of propagation which led to LGa-LA-LA-OMe, LGa-LA-CL-OMe, LGa-CL-LA-OMe, or LGa-CL-CL-OMe derivatives have been analyzed in detail. According to these data, the studied catalyst is a rare example of a catalyst in which, during copolymerization, the polymerization of CL should proceed faster than LA. Thus, we predict the formation of a mainly block copolymer poly(CL-block-LA) using this catalyst.

Gallium (III) Complexes Based on Aminobisphenolate Ligands: Extremely High Active ROP-Initiators from Well-Known and Easily Accessible Compounds.

We report herein the synthesis and full characterizations of the first examples of gallium complexes based on "privileged" aminobisphenolate ligands which are easily available. These complexes turned out to be extremely active in the ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone even at room temperature and highly active in the ROP of L-lactide. The combination of factors such as the easy availability of these compounds and the supposedly low toxicity, together with the extremely high activity in ROP, allows us to consider these compounds as suitable for use on an industrial scale for the synthesis of biodegradable polymers for biomedical applications.

Crystal structure of 2,6-bis-(2-hy-droxy-5-methyl-phen-yl)-4-phenyl-pyridinium bromide di-chloro-methane hemisolvate hemihydrate.

The asymmetric unit in the structure of the title compound, C25H22NO2 (+)·Br (-)·0.5CH2Cl2·0.5H2O, comprises two pseudosymmetry-related cations, two bromide anions, a di-chloro-methane molecule and a water mol-ecule of solvation. The two independent cations are conformationally similar with the comparative dihedral angles between the central pyridine ring and the three benzene substituent rings being 3.0 (2), 36.4 (1) and 24.2 (1)°, and 3.7 (2), 36.5 (1) and 24.8 (1)°, respectively. In the crystal, the cations, anions and water mol-ecules are linked through O-H⋯O and O-H⋯Br hydrogen bonds, forming an insular unit. Within the cations there are also intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. Adjacent centrosymmetrically related aggregates are linked by π-π stacking inter-actions between the pyridine ring and a benzene ring in both cations [ring-centroid separations = 3.525 (3) and 3.668 (3) Å], forming chains extending across the ac diagonal. Voids between these chains are filled by dichloromethane molecules.