Mohammed Lahcini

Syntheses of Poly(butylene succinate) by Means of Non-Toxic Catalysts

The usefulness of bismuth, calcium, magnesium and zinc salts for the preparation of poly(butylene succinate), PBSu, was studied. Two different approaches were compared. Firstly, 1,4-butanediol (or in a few experiments ethanediol) dimethyl succinate were condensed at temperatures up to 240°C in the presence of Bi2O3. Regardless of the feed ratio, only low molar mass polyesters having two diol endgroups were obtained. Secondly, 1,4-butanediol and succinic anhydride were polycondensed in refluxing decalin with azeotropic removal of water. BiCL3, BiBr3, BiI3, and Bi-triflate were used as catalyst and the monomer/catalyst ratio was varied. The highest molar masses were achieved with BiCl3. Analogous polycondensations catalysed with ZnCl2, Zn-triflate, MgCl2, Mg-triflate and CaCl2 were unsuccessful. Yet the BiCl3, decalin method was also successfully applied to the combination of succinic anhydride and 1,5-pentanediol.

Unsaturated copolyesters of lactide

Four classes of unsaturated copolyesters of L-lactide were prepared either from isosorbide or bis(hydroxymethyl)tricyclodecane in combination with fumaric acid or from 1,4-butenediol or 1,4-butynediol with terephthalic acid. All syntheses were performed in such a way that lactide was oligomerized with a diol as the initiator and the resulting oligomers were polycondensed with a dicarboxylic acid dichloride either in a one-pot synthesis or in a two-step procedure. For most copolyesters the SEC measurements gave weight average molecular weights in the range of 30–60 kg mol−1 and dispersities in the range of 4.2–6.2. The MALDI-TOF mass spectra displayed a high content of cycles and indicated an irreversible kinetic course of all polycondensations. Glass-transition temperatures (Tg) above 90 °C were only found for two copolyesters of isosorbide. Addition of bromine to copolyesters of 1,4-butenediol yielded flame retarding biodegradable polymers.