化学学报 ›› 2025, Vol. 83 ›› Issue (8): 810-815.DOI: 10.6023/A25050150 上一篇    下一篇

研究通讯

螺环-salen配合物催化开环聚合制备立构规整、功能化聚羟基脂肪酸酯

黄皓毅, 谢敏, 黄玉婷, 崔嘉豪, 蔡中正*(), 朱剑波*()   

  1. 四川大学化学学院 环保型高分子材料国家地方联合工程实验室 成都 610064
  • 投稿日期:2025-05-09 发布日期:2025-06-17
  • 通讯作者: 蔡中正, 朱剑波
  • 作者简介:

    “中国青年化学家”专辑.

  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金(223B2116); 国家自然科学基金(22371194); 国家自然科学基金(22301197)

Synthesis of Stereoregular and Functional Polyhydroxyalkanoates via Ring-Opening Polymerization Mediated by Spiro-salen Complexes

Haoyi Huang, Min Xie, Yuting Huang, Jiahao Cui, Zhongzheng Cai*(), Jianbo Zhu*()   

  1. National Engineering Laboratory of Eco-Friendly Polymeric Materials (Sichuan), College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064
  • Received:2025-05-09 Published:2025-06-17
  • Contact: Zhongzheng Cai, Jianbo Zhu
  • About author:

    For the VSI “Rising Stars in Chemistry”.

  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(223B2116); National Natural Science Foundation of China(22371194); National Natural Science Foundation of China(22301197)

聚羟基脂肪酸酯(polyhydroxyalkanoates, PHAs)作为一类由细菌发酵制备的生物可降解材料, 因其性能可媲美商业聚烯烃, 被视为传统塑料的潜在替代品. 然而, 高昂的生产成本严重制约了其规模化应用. 尽管天然细菌发酵PHAs呈现丰富的结构多样性, 但产物多局限于烷基侧基取代衍生物. 本研究通过开发外消旋杂原子取代四元环内酯单体的立体选择性聚合体系, 成功合成了具有高间同立构结构的PHAs (Pr>0.95), 其分子结构显著区别于微生物合成PHAs, 突破了传统发酵法在结构调控上的局限性, 拓展了PHAs的结构多样性及潜在应用范围.

关键词: 开环聚合, 聚羟基脂肪酸酯, 立体选择性聚合, 可持续聚合物, 金属配合物

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a class of biodegradable materials produced by bacterial fermentation. They are considered as potential alternatives for traditional plastics because their material properties are comparable to those of commercial polyolefins. However, the high cost of fermentation production has seriously restricted their large-scale application. Although PHAs produced by natural bacterial fermentation show rich structural diversity, the products are mostly limited to alkyl side-substituted derivatives and are mainly used as thermoplastics. Consequently, the development of cost-effective and efficient chemical synthesis routes to produce PHAs with enhanced structural diversity and broader potential applications is of considerable importance. In this study, functionalized four-membered cyclic lactone monomers, BPLCH2OR (R=Bu, Bn), substituted with alkoxy and benzyloxy groups, were synthesized via carbonylation of commercially available epoxides with carbon monoxide. These monomers undergo stereoselective ring-opening polymerization (ROP) to yield polymers with structures distinct from those of natural PHAs. A stereoselective polymerization system for rac- BPLCH2OR was developed using a spiro-salen yttrium complex Y2 as the catalyst. The resulting PHAs with high syndiotacticity (Pr>0.95) exhibit significant differences in stereoregularity and thermal performance compared to their natural counterparts. It was observed that rac-Y2 and its corresponding chiral (R)-Y2 exhibit distinct catalytic behaviors: while both catalysts enable good molecular weight control, producing P(BPLCH2OR) with low dispersity (Đ<1.15), polymerization catalyzed by (R)-Y2 yielded atactic P(BPLCH2OR) in the form of oily liquids, whereas rac-Y2-catalyzed polymerization produced semicrystalline syndiotactic P(BPLCH2OR) (Pr>0.95). The glass transition temperatures (Tg) and melting temperatures (Tm) range from -61 ℃ to 74 ℃. P(BPLCH2OBn) illustrates potential for post-polymerization modification. Upon debenzylation, it is expected to generate hydrophilic, stereoregular and biodegradable materials, thus demonstrating promising application prospects in the biomedical field.

Key words: ring-opening polymerization, polyhydroxyalkanoates, stereoselective polymerization, sustainable polymers, metal complexes