Glycolide and lactide function as the commonly used diester monomers for the preparation of high-molecular weight, degradation-prone (co-)polyesters. Both glycolide and lactide-based polymers are widely used in medicine, pharmaceuticals, the food industry, and additive technologies. This review on the diesters, spanning research from 1833-1854 to the present, encompassing their structural peculiarities, physico-chemical properties, and the range of different methods for obtaining them – including reaction mechanisms – from lactic and glycolic acids, their esters, and halogen derivatives. The review also discusses the chemical transformations of lactide and glycolide (apart from ring-opening polymerization) into valuable organic and high-molecular compounds, such as acrylic acid, nitrogen-containing heterocycles, and functional polymers with novel properties.

乙交酯和丙交酯是​​制备高分子量，易降解（共）聚酯的常用二酯单体。乙交酯和丙交酯基聚合物都广泛用于医药，制药，食品工业和添加剂技术。这份对二酯的综述，涵盖了从183-1854年到现在的研究，涵盖了它们的结构特点，物理化学性质以及从乳酸和乙醇酸，它们的酯和卤素衍生物。该评论还讨论了丙交酯和乙交酯（除了开环聚合反应）向有价值的有机和高分子化合物（例如丙烯酸，含氮杂环）的化学转化，