Equilibrium melting temperature of aliphatic polyesters using model compounds

Abstract

A series of oligomers for use as a biodegradable aliphatic polyester model compounds such as poly-(dodecamethylene dodecanedioate) (C12-n) and poly(tetradecamethylene tetradecanedioate) (C14-n) were synthesized. C12-n and C14-n were separated by a silica gel column, and pure n-mers were obtained. The melting enthalpies and entropies of n-mers were observed to follow a linear equation in terms of n. The equilibrium melting temperatures of C12-n and C14-n obtained from ΔH/Δ5 were 104°C and 108°C, respectively. We can easily calculate the approximate equilibrium melting temperature of aliphatic polyesters (Cm) using Tm0 = 411(m - 2.48)/(m - 1.59). © 2006 The Society of Polymer Science.