Development and Applications of Transesterification Reactions Catalyzed by N-Heterocyclic Olefins.
A novel method to utilize N-heterocyclic olefins (NHOs), the alkylidene derivatives of N-heterocycic carbenes, as organocatalysts to promote transesterification reactions has been developed. Because of their strong Brønsted/Lewis basicity, NHOs can enhance the nucleophilicity of alcohols for their acylation reactions with carboxylic esters. This transformation can be employed in industrially relevant processes such as the production of biodiesel, the depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from plastic bottles for recycling purposes, and the ring-opening polymerization of cyclic esters to form biodegradable polymers such as polylactide (PLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL).
School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales , Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.|Institute of Organic Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University , Landoltweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Marcus
M
Blümel
School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales , Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Janina-Miriam
JM
Noy
Institute of Organic Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University , Landoltweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Dieter
D
Enders
School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales , Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Martina H
MH
Stenzel
School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales , Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Thanh V
TV
Nguyen