Recently, polycarbonates have attracted
considerable research interest
because of their potential biodegradability and sustainability. Here,
we present a direct route for the synthesis of polycarbonates and
poly(ether carbonate)s from carbon dioxide (CO
2
) and diols,
promoted by Cs
2
CO
3
and CH
2
Cl
2
under 1 atm of CO
2
. Quantitative conversion of
diols and polymers with up to 11 kg/mol molecular weight could be
obtained. While benzylic diols lead to predominantly carbonate linkage,
aliphatic diols result in the incorporation of the methylene unit
of CH
2
Cl
2
that produces poly(ether carbonate)s.
Both primary and secondary diols have been successfully incorporated
into the polymer chain.
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