The utilization of carbon dioxide (CO₂) as a monomer for copolymerization with three-membered cyclic ethers, also known as oxiranes or epoxides, has received much renewed interest due to the need for degradable polymeric materials derived from renewable resources. Since the early discovery of the catalytic coupling of CO₂ and oxiranes to afford polycarbonates, the area has progressed significantly over the 50 succeeding years. Herein, we describe the currently well-established catalyzed copolymerization process of oxiranes and carbon dioxide utilizing homogeneous metal catalysts. Pertinent to the commercial success of this process is the presence of rapid and reversible chain-transfer reactions that occur in the presence of protic impurities or additives leading to the formation of macropolyols. The focus of this review is to summarize the various synthetic strategies for the production of designer block copolymers for various applications in material science and biomedicine.

由于需要由可再生资源衍生的可降解聚合物材料，利用二氧化碳（CO ₂）作为单体与三元环状醚（也称为环氧乙烷或环氧化物）共聚的方法受到了广泛的关注。自从发现CO ₂催化偶合以来和二恶英可提供聚碳酸酯，在随后的50年中，该领域取得了显着进展。在本文中，我们描述了利用均质金属催化剂建立的目前公认的环氧乙烷和二氧化碳催化的共聚方法。与该方法的商业成功有关的是在质子性杂质或添加剂的存在下发生的快速可逆的链转移反应的存在，从而导致大分子多元醇的形成。这篇综述的重点是总结用于材料科学和生物医学中各种应用的设计嵌段共聚物生产的各种合成策略。