Lactic
acid-derived 1,3-dioxolan-4-ones (DOLOs), which do not undergo
cationic homopolymerization, were demonstrated to yield copolymers
with oxiranes through a cationic copolymerization via frequent crossover
reactions. Acetal and ester moieties were generated in the main chain
of the copolymers via crossover reactions from DOLO to oxirane and
from oxirane to DOLO, respectively, which is in contrast to the unsuccessful
generation of hemiacetal ester moieties in the homopropagation of
DOLO. In addition, the terpolymerization of DOLO, oxirane, and vinyl
ether (VE) proceeded via crossover reactions, while copolymers could
not be generated from VE and DOLO in the absence of oxirane. The obtained
co- and terpolymers could be degraded under acidic conditions due
to the acetal moieties in the main chain. The strategy devised in
this study shows a promising avenue for employing plant-derived “nonhomopolymerizable”
compounds as building blocks for the synthesis of degradable co- and
terpolymers with general-purpose monomers.
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