Basic Chemistry for the Synthesis of Telechelic Polyesters and Polycarbonates

Abstract

This chapter discusses the basic chemistry for the synthesis of telechelic polyesters and polycarbonates. It presents ionic, radical, and coordination ring-opening polymerizations, which are designed carefully so that they can proceed in a “living” fashion to give well-defined polymers with reactive termini useful for chain end functionalizations. Telechelic polymers are polymers with functional groups at both chain ends, of which selective reactions permit various functionalizations of the chain ends and further chain extension. Telechelic polyesters and polycarbonates have been also synthesized by using various living polymerization techniques. The majority of such techniques have been the living ring-opening polymerizations (ROP) of lactones and cyclic carbonates. The chapter presents the various methods for the synthesis of telechelic polyesters and polycarbonates with categorization by polymerization systems. ROP is the most frequently used approach to synthesize polyesters and polycarbonates with well-defined structures.