Aliphatic polycarbonate synthesis by copolymerization of carbon dioxide with epoxides over double metal cyanide catalysts prepared by using ZnX 2 (X = F, Cl, Br, I)

Abstract

As means of the chemical fixation of carbon dioxide and the synthesis polycarbonates, copolymerizations of carbon dioxide with various epoxides, such as cyclohexene oxide, cyclopentene oxide and propylene oxide were investigated in the presence of double metal cyanide (DMC) catalysts. The DMC catalysts were prepared by reacting K 3Co(CN) 6 with ZnX 2 (X = F, Cl, Br, I) together with tertiary butyl alcohol and poly(tetramethylene ether glycol) as complexing reagents and were characterized by various spectroscopic methods. The DMC catalysts showed high activity for epoxides and CO 2 copolymerization to yield aliphatic polycarbonates of narrow polydispersity and moderate molecular weight.