Abstract
The cheaper and easy to handle catalysts are particularly important for catalytic studies. Herein, inexpensive Co2O3 and MnO2 were used as catalysts for the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of rac-lactide (rac-LA) and e-caprolactone (e-CL). The polymerization proceeded in a controlled manner with the formation of high molecular weight (Mn) and narrow dispersity (Ð). Heterotactically enriched (Pr up to 0.7) poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was formed during the polymerization process. MALDI-TOF and 1H NMR analyses of low Mn oligomer from rac-LA indicated that the polymerization followed an activated monomer mechanism. The data on the polymerization kinetics showed that the polymerization followed first order kinetics.
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