Polyesters especially polylactide (PLA) are one of the most important and extensively studied biodegradable polymers for their use in medicine, agriculture, packaging, and drug delivery. Importantly, these polymers can be formed by the ring opening polymerization (ROP) of lactide by carefully designed metal complexes that can act as catalysts for such reactions have emerged as useful tools to achieve this goal. In recent years, alkali metal-based organometallic complexes have appeared as an alternative to transition metal and rare earth metals catalysts for the ROP of rac-LA systems. This strategy is advantageous because it obviates the need for pre-generated toxic metal precursors. This review highlights the progress of alkali metal-based catalysis for the ROP of rac-LA that come out with a critical assessment of the futuristic research, spotlight the major developments achieved in the past few years, and provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities.

聚酯，尤其是聚乳酸 (PLA) 是最重要和最广泛研究的可生物降解聚合物之一，用于医药、农业、包装和药物输送。重要的是，这些聚合物可以通过精心设计的金属配合物通过丙交酯的开环聚合 (ROP) 形成，金属配合物可以作为此类反应的催化剂，已成为实现这一目标的有用工具。近年来，碱金属基有机金属配合物已作为过渡金属和稀土金属催化剂的替代物出现，用于rac -LA 系统的 ROP 。这种策略是有利的，因为它不需要预先生成的有毒金属前体。这篇综述重点介绍了碱金属基催化rac的 ROP 的进展。-LA 对未来研究进行了批判性评估，突出了过去几年取得的重大进展，并概述了挑战和机遇。