Abstract Alkali metal carboxylates, including sodium acetate, sodium benzoate, and sodium sorbate, which are all readily available and widely used as food additives, were found to promote the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of trimethylene carbonate (TMC) to produce poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC). The sodium acetate-catalyzed ROP of TMC proceeded in the presence of an alcohol initiator under solvent-free conditions at 70 °C, even at very low catalyst loadings of 0.01–0.0001 mol%. The controlled nature of this ROP system enabled the synthesis of PTMCs with predicted molecular weights ranging from 2400 to 11 700 g mol −1 and narrow dispersities (~1.23). Importantly, ROP is initiated by an alcohol initiator, allowing PTMC production with desired functional groups, such as azido, alkyne, and methacrylate groups, at the α -chain end. Furthermore, the poly( l -lactic acid)- b -PTMC- b -poly( l- lactic acid) triblock copolymer, a biodegradable thermoplastic elastomer, was successfully synthesized in one pot via the sodium acetate-catalyzed ring-opening block copolymerization of TMC and l- lactide with a 1,3-propanediol initiator. Alkali metal carboxylates, which are readily available and widely used as food additives, were found to promote the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of trimethylene carbonate (TMC) to produce poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC). The sodium acetate-catalyzed ROP of TMC proceeded in the presence of an alcohol initiator under solvent-free conditions, even at very low catalyst loadings of 0.01–0.0001 mol%. This ROP system enabled the synthesis of PTMCs with predicted molecular weights ranging from 2400 to 11 700 g mol −1 and narrow dispersities (~1.23).

中文翻译：

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碱金属羧酸盐催化开环聚合合成聚（碳酸亚丙酯）的简便方法

摘要 碱金属羧酸盐，包括乙酸钠、苯甲酸钠和山梨酸钠，这些易得并广泛用作食品添加剂的碱金属羧酸盐可促进碳酸三亚甲基酯 (TMC) 的开环聚合 (ROP) 以生产聚(三亚甲基碳酸酯）（PTMC）。即使在 0.01–0.0001 mol% 的非常低的催化剂负载量下，乙酸钠催化的 TMC 的 ROP 在醇引发剂的存在下，在 70 °C 的无溶剂条件下也能进行。该 ROP 系统的受控性质能够合成预测分子量范围为 2400 至 11 700 g mol -1 和窄分散性 (~1.23) 的 PTMC。重要的是，ROP 由醇引发剂引发，允许在 α 链末端具有所需官能团（例如叠氮基、炔烃和甲基丙烯酸酯基团）的 PTMC 生产。此外，聚(l-乳酸)-b-PTMC-b-聚(l-乳酸)三嵌段共聚物是一种可生物降解的热塑性弹性体，通过乙酸钠催化的TMC和l-丙交酯与1,3-丙二醇引发剂。碱金属羧酸盐很容易获得并广泛用作食品添加剂，被发现可促进碳酸三亚甲基酯 (TMC) 的开环聚合 (ROP) 以生产聚(碳酸亚丙酯) (PTMC)。TMC 的乙酸钠催化的 ROP 在无溶剂条件下在醇引发剂的存在下进行，即使在 0.01-0.0001 mol% 的非常低的催化剂负载量下也是如此。该 ROP 系统能够合成预测分子量范围为 2400 至 11 700 g mol -1 和窄分散性 (~1.23) 的 PTMC。