Multicomponent Polymerizations Provide Sustainable Sulfur (Selenium)-Containing Polyesters

作者：Yanni Xia, Chengjian Zhang, Xinghong Zhang · 发表于：Accounts of Chemical Research · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1021/acs.accounts.5c00152 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Synthesis and properties of polymers、Carbon dioxide utilization in catalysis、Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Conspectus With the rapid development of the polymer industry, the contradiction between synthetic polymers and the sustainable development of human society is becoming more and more prominent. The advancement of degradable plastics greatly contributes to the sustainability of our society. Synthetic polymers containing precisely placed in-chain ester groups are expected to be degradable in a controlled manner. Their potential as environmentally benign plastics is significant. For this purpose, there is a clear need for their improved performance. Incorporating sulfur functional groups into polyesters can improve the diverse crucial properties of their counterparts. However, there is a lack of related high-efficiency polymer synthesis methods. In response to this issue, we designed a series of multicomponent polymerization methods for the synthesis of a library of degradable polyesters with tunable structure and properties. This Account summarizes our recent efforts to discover the polymerization approach. The method uses readily available monomers including diols, diamines, H 2 O, diacrylates, carbonyl sulfide (COS), cyclic thioanhydrides, CO, and selenium powder. The polymerization is usually carried out under mild conditions: at 60 to 90 °C, for 2 to 12 h, using organobases as the catalysts or catalyst-free. This approach achieves the simultaneous incorporation of in-chain ester and sulfur/selenium functional groups including thiocarbonate, thioether, thioester, thiourethan...