The use of ionic liquids as an organocatalyst for controlled ring-opening polymerization of ϵ-caprolactone

Asmae Kaoukabi (1, 2) , F. Guillen (1, 3) , Hicham Qayouh (1, 2) , Asmaa Bouyahya (1, 2) , Sébastien Balieu (1) , Larbi Belachemi (2) , Géraldine Gouhier (1) , Mohammed Lahcini (2)

1 COBRA - Chimie Organique et Bioorganique : Réactivité et Analyse
2 UCA - Université Cadi Ayyad [Marrakech]
3 SPCMIB - Synthèse et Physico-Chimie de Molécules d'Intérêt Biologique

The controlled ring-opening polymerization of ϵ‑caprolactone in bulk catalyzed by ionic liquids, thus, avoiding the use of metal catalyst, solvent and base, is reported. These mild conditions led to living polymerization with good conversions and molecular weight distributions of poly(ϵ‑caprolactone). Finally, an activation mechanism is suggested based on the results of an in-situ FTIR polymerization analysis using various ionic liquid catalysts.

Mots clés: ϵ-Caprolactone; Aliphatic polyesters; IR spectroscopic; Ring-opening polymerization; Ionic liquids

Domaines: Chimie organique; Chimie analytique

Asmae Kaoukabi, F. Guillen, Hicham Qayouh, Asmaa Bouyahya, Sébastien Balieu, et al.. The use of ionic liquids as an organocatalyst for controlled ring-opening polymerization of ϵ-caprolactone. Industrial Crops and Products, 2015, 72, pp.16-23. ⟨10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.02.002⟩. ⟨hal-01140371⟩