From Forest to Future: Synthesis of Sustainable High Molecular Weight Polyamides Using and Investigating the AROP of β‐Pinene Lactam

Abstract

Polyamides (PA) are among the most essential and versatile polymers due to their outstanding characteristics, e.g., high chemical resistance and temperature stability. Furthermore, nature‐derived monomers can introduce hard‐to‐synthesize structures into the PAs for unique polymer properties. Pinene, as one of the most abundant terpenes in nature and its presumable stability‐giving bicyclic structure, is therefore highly promising. This work presents simple anionic ring‐opening polymerizations of β‐pinene lactam (AROP) in‐bulk and in solution. PAs with high molecular weights, suitable for further processing, were produced. Their good mechanical, thermal (Tds up to 440°C), and transparent appearance render them promising high‐performance biomaterials. In the following, the suitability of different initiators is discussed. Thereby, it was found that NaH was the most successful for in‐bulk polymerization, with a degree of polymerization (DP) of 322. For solution‐AROP, iPrMgCl·LiCl was successfully used for the first time, achieving DPs up to 163. The obtained PAs were also hot‐pressed, and the dynamic mechanical properties were analyzed.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved