title: Direct Copolymerization of CO2 and Diols.
abstract: Direct polymerization of CO2 and diols is promising as a simple and environmental-benign method in place of conventional processes using high-cost and/or hazardous reagents such as phosgene, carbon monoxide and epoxides, however, there are no reports on the direct method due to the inertness of CO2 and severe equilibrium limitation of the reaction. Herein, we firstly substantiate the direct copolymerization of CO2 and diols using CeO2 catalyst and 2-cyanopyridine promotor, providing the alternating cooligomers in high diol-based yield (up to 99%) and selectivity (up to >99%). This catalyst system is applicable to various diols including linear C4-C10 α,ω-diols to provide high yields of the corresponding cooligomers, which cannot be obtained by well-known methods such as copolymerization of CO2 and cyclic ethers and ring-opening polymerization of cyclic carbonates. This process provides us a facile synthesis method for versatile polycarbonates from various diols and CO2 owing to simplicity of diols modification.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-07, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.|JST, PRESTO, 4-1-8, Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan.
authors.forename: Masazumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-07, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-07, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-07, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, 12-1 Ichigaya-Funagawara, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-0826 Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-07, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tomishige