Development of degradable polyester elastomers plays an important role in the applications of soft mateirals. Noncrystalline polymenthides (PMs) from menthol derived lactone monomers are excellent soft segments for preparing degradable polyester elastomers. By using cyclic trimeric phosphazene base (CTPB) as an organocatalyst, we successfully synthesized PMs with different molecular weights (8.2 kDa to 100.7 kDa) in high yields via ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of menthide. When a CTPB/urea binary catalytic system was adopted, the polymerizations proceeded in a more controlled manner. Using glycerol as initiator, star shaped PMs with well-defined structure were synthesized and subsequently end-capped by acrylate. UV irradiation of the terminal acrylate groups in the star-shaped PMs resulted in formation of chemically cross-linked polyester elastomers without heat or other stimuli. The obtained polyester elastomers exhibit matched modulus (3.8–5.5 MPa), tensile strength (0.56–0.68 MPa), and strain at break (280%–320%) with soft body tissues, displaying great potential in biomedical applications.

可降解聚酯弹性体的开发在软质材料的应用中起着重要作用。薄荷醇衍生的内酯单体的非晶聚丙烯酸酯（PMs）是制备可降解聚酯弹性体的优良软链段。通过使用环状三聚磷腈碱（CTPB），为有机催化剂，我们成功地合成了具有高收率不同分子量（8.2 kDa至100.7千道尔顿）的PM通过杀虫剂的开环聚合（ROP）。当采用CTPB /脲二元催化体系时，聚合反应以更可控的方式进行。使用甘油作为引发剂，合成了具有明确结构的星形PM，随后被丙烯酸酯封端。星形PM中末端丙烯酸酯基团的UV照射导致形成化学交联的聚酯弹性体，而没有加热或其他刺激。获得的聚酯弹性体具有与软组织相匹配的模量（3.8-5.5 MPa），抗张强度（0.56-0.68 MPa）和断裂应变（280％-320％），在生物医学应用中显示出巨大的潜力。