Large-scale microwave-assisted ring-opening polymerization of e{open}-caprolactone

Abstract

To probe into the industrialization possibility of microwave-assisted ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of e{open}-caprolactone (e{open}-CL), it was performed with monomer mass from 750 to 2450g using a self-designed industrial microwave oven (6000W) catalyzed by stannous octanoate (Sn(Oct)2) (M/Cat=1000). The large-scale ROP of e{open}-CL proceeded smoothly at various microwave power levels (850, 1700, and 2550W) and produced poly(e{open}-caprolactone) (PCL) with weight-average molar mass (Mw) from 66,000 to 12,2000g/mol within 40min in a yield over 93%. The structure of PCL was characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, FT-IR, DSC and WAXD. We propose that the microwave ROP of e{open}-CL is a potential technology to prepare PCL commercially. © 2010.